Demolition Derby with Burnout Crash!

Anyone who's played Burnout 3 is familiar with Crash Mode, where your objective was to cause as much vehicular mayhem as possible. Now Criterion Games has released Burnout Crash!, a challenging new Arcade game that focuses on explosive destruction.

Burnout Crash! has 18 different levels, called "intersections," where the goal is simple – keep cars from getting from one side of the screen to the other. Wreak mayhem on the traffic flow by careening around the screen, triggering "Crashbreaker" chain-reaction explosions to wreck as many cars as possible and create piles of twisted steel in the middle of the road.
Big-Budget Movie Action
You have a top-down view of the intersections, and Burnout Crash! almost plays more like a pinball game mixed with a game show than a standard Arcade racer. Bounce and crash cars and trucks into position, then use them to detonate other vehicles. You can set up a string of wrecks and ignite them in a chain explosion like a big-budget action movie.

The action gets way over the top as the levels progress, with bonuses like sports cars, enemies like bad cops, and finally ridiculous bosses at the end fo the levels.
Playing Road Trip mode unlocks Rush Hour, where you must pile up and destroy as many vehicles as possible in 90 seconds. In this mode, destroy a pizza delivery truck for a huge "Pizza of Fortune" bonus. Pile Up mode gives you a multiplier that reduces with every car that escapes, so you can trigger an "Inferno" as long as you keep the wreckage burning.

If you're ready for an overdose of vehicular destruction, if your idea of fun is crashing an oil tanker into a school bus to trigger a massive explosion, then grab Burnout Crash! from Arcade today. And be sure to buckle up.

Import from: http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/b/community_blog/archive/2011/09/26/demolition-derby-with-burnout-crash.aspx

Mercury Hg is a Blast

For those of you who are not obsessed with killing Locust in Gears of War 3, you might be pleasantly surprised by an intriguing little puzzle action game that sneaked onto Xbox LIVE Arcade this past week. I’m talking about Mercury Hg, a clever game from UTV Ignition Entertainment that has had various versions over the past few years, all stemming from the original Archer Maclean’s Mercury released in 2005.

In Mercury Hg, you control a little blob of quicksilver that you must navigate from the start to the finish along the lines of Marble Madness. But here, you control the field of play by being able to tilt the pathway in any direction, thus causing the mercury to move. The pathway sometimes moves or narrows and you have to be careful how hard you tilt the playfield so you don’t drop your mercury blob off the side.
Other elements include Paint Shops that will paint your mercury blob a specific color so that it can go into color-coded territory or operate switches. Splitters will split your blob into two which will be necessary to complete certain levels. For instance, the finish square might be colored yellow meaning your mercury must be yellow to complete the level. But the level only has one red Paint Shop and one green Paint Shop. Split your mercury, paint one red and one green, then bring the blobs back together, and poof, they’re yellow!

There are 60 levels in Discovery Mode, and each level ramps up the gameplay one notch at a time providing a perfect pacing for an evening or two on the couch. Beating levels in Discovery Mode opens up Bonus Levels and Challenge Levels, where the difficulty increases. In Challenge Mode, you must complete a series of levels meeting certain targets; mess up once and you have to start the challenge all over, and yes, these can be difficult.

Mercury Hg is as challenging as you want it to be. You can just blow through the levels if you want, but each level has four targets to meet. There’s the target of finishing with your mercury blob intact (you can lose parts of your blob and still finish the level), a target of getting all the bonus pickups on a level, a par time target, and a target of just managing to finish. After each level, the leaderboards indicates your overall score and your fastest time which should spark some to say, “Oooh, I know I can knock off a tenth of a second here and move up the ladder.”
Two additional level download packs are planned for the near future. Oh, and did I say what may be the coolest aspect of this game? It’s only 400 Microsoft Points, about five dollars US. Try the demo; I bet you’ll be hooked.

import from:  http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/b/community_blog/archive/2011/09/30/mercury-hg-is-a-blast.aspx

Rage: id Software Takes Shooters to the Next Level

Let’s get this straight right away: Although Rage has all the elements that you’ve come to expect from the technological wizards at id Software, including a graphics engine that pushes the state of the art, silky smooth frame rates, and adrenaline-packed shooter action, this game is in no way just a modern rehash of DOOM or Quake. id has mixed in elements of an open-world shooter, some RPG elements, and fast-action vehicle combat to create a unique mix of action that makes it the most interesting, engaging, and replayable shooter ever to come from the developer.
 
That’s not to say that publisher Bethesda influenced id to create a Fallout 3-style RPG instead of a shooter. Sure, as you explore the post-apocalyptic world (asteroid+earth=wasteland), you can wander around and talk to characters, choosing to take on missions and engage in contests to make money for weapons and upgrade points for your vehicles. And you can even gather items from around the world to craft new weapons, medicines, and fun items like bomb-laden RC cars. All this makes for a far more interesting game than old-school progressing through a series of hallways and paths in a linear manner. You’ll clean mutants out of sewers, blow up underground bunkers, attack raider compounds, and engage in fast-action vehicle battles as you progress through the game. You can even engage in armed races on the local racetrack in order to win upgrades for your own wheels.
 
But at the game’s core, it’s a fast-paced, first-person shooter, with the amazing performance and adrenaline-packed action you’ve come to expect from id Software’s titles. The game’s engine is breathtaking. The textures and objects have a level of detail rarely seen on a console game, with a wide variety of unique settings and items scattered throughout the world. Yet despite being one of the best-looking games yet on a modern console, the game maintains a silky-smooth frame rate throughout.  It doesn’t have the story depth or character development of a Mass Effect or Fallout 3, but that’s not the intent. It’s not an RPG-lite, it’s first an foremost a shooter, with the character interactions and mission tree there to make it more interesting than its linear predecessors.

Rage ships on a whopping three DVDs, with two devoted to the single-player campaign, and a third disc for multiplayer. (Installing all three to your hard drive simultaneously takes about 22GB of space, but you can also install them one at a time, depending on where you are in the game.) If you take full advantage of all of the side missions and race opportunities, you can plan on about 15-20 hours of single-player action in a playthrough.
On the multiplayer front, Rage happily doesn’t throw yet another tactical shooter on the market—we have plenty of excellent choices there already. It has two unique multiplayer modes. Wasteland Legends is a series of nine two-player co-op missions that give additional backstory to the characters and events you encounter in the single-player campaign. Road Rage is a series of vehicular battle games, including pure deathmatch and three rally/capture modes. The action is super-fast, and a nice change of pace.
 
Rage is in stores now, and is a must-have for fans of id Software’s games, and anyone who enjoys a cutting-edge shooter.

import from: http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/b/community_blog/archive/2011/10/03/rage-id-software-takes-shooters-to-the-next-level.aspx

Razzle Dazzle with NBA Jam: On Fire Edition

Boom-shakalaka! The popular arcade franchise gets a big upgrade with the debut of NBA Jam on Xbox LIVE Arcade. NBA Jam: On Fire Edition isn't just a roster update with a few new rim-rattling dunks thrown in -- the gameplay has been refined and balanced, the career mode has been overhauled, and a wide variety of unlockable players and game modes has been added.

In the mid-nineties I worked at a company that had a bunch of arcade machines in the break room, and marathon NBA Jam sessions were not uncommon. Back in the day, The Reignman and The Glove (Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton) were almost unstoppable. Malone and Stockton were close, but Payton's 99 steal rating made him a dominant player. Ah, the good old days.
More ControlWell, the good old days are back. Available now for download from Arcade, NBA Jam: On Fire gives you more control on the court with Tag Mode, which gives commands to the other player instead of hoping the A.I. knows what you want. You can set a pick or call for an alley-oop with the bumper buttons. Use the new pivot move to juke your opponent and drive to the basket.

In addition to the standard On Fire bonus when you drop three baskets, there's now Team Fire, activated by three alley-oops in a row. Now your whole team has 20 has seconds of fire, and it can only be countered by the other team scoring an alley-oop of their own.
Razzle-Dazzle TauntsRazzle-Dazzle moves have also been added to the game. These outrageous moves give you a chance to showboat or taunt by holding down both trigger buttons when you pivot on the court or shoot the ball.  
Don't think you can just alley-oop your way to a 20-point win every time, though – the computer A.I. has been given an upgrade as well. Opponents get progressively more challenging, and even mimics your own moves and strategies at advanced levels.

Last year's Remix Mode has been scrapped in favor of Road Trip, a comprehensive career mode that sends you in pursuit of bronze, silver and gold challenges for each team. As you progress, different games have different rules, so you'll have to use different strategies each time. You're not locked into one team, either -- change teams and take on different challenges any time you want. You can even play Road Trip games with a buddy, either online or on the same sofa.
Jam BucksWhether it's same-screen or over Xbox LIVE, multiplayer is as polished and exciting as ever. Stat tracking and online leaderboards let you talk smack to your opponents, and the new Jam Challenges let you score even more valuable Jam Bucks.

Spend Jam Bucks for special unlockables (like the Seattle Supersonics!) including mascots, cheats, bonus players, and characters from other EA games. Faith from Mirror's Edge makes an appearance, as do the kids from SSX.
There may be no NBA season on the horizon, but you can still lace up your sneakers and take to the hardwood for some over-the-top two-on-two action this fall. With all the features of a full retail release, it's availale for download in a few minutes to your console. Grab NBA Jam: On Fire Edition from Marketplace today for only 1200 Microsoft Points.

import from: http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/b/community_blog/archive/2011/10/05/razzle-dazzle-with-nba-jam-on-fire-edition.aspx

Mass Effect 3 Goes Multiplayer

When Mass Effect 3 ships for the Xbox 360 on March 9, 2012, you'll be able to do more with your friends than argue about who has created the coolest Commander Shepard. Developer BioWare has added a full-on four-player co-op multiplayer mode.
Check out this video on the Xbox YouTube channel where Mass Effect Executive Producer Casey Hudson gives us the scoop on the new multiplayer mode. (You can also download it for later viewing on your Xbox 360 here.)
Featuring four-player cooperative gameplay, multiplayer in Mass Effect 3 puts players in the role of a team of elite Special Forces soldiers sent to protect resources and assets that can help the war effort against the Reapers. Players will have the option of playing as one of six classes and from six different races: Human, Krogan, Asari, Drell, Salarian and Turian. Hudson says the multiplayer mode will offer amazing combat and deep customization, and it will link back to the single-player mode, helping Shepard rally forces to eliminate the Reaper threat.
Single-player purists need not fear: While multiplayer promises to be a blast for folks who enjoy playing with friends, playing the co-op missions is just one way to prepare for the final battle against the Reapers, and BioWare says it will be completely optional. We're sure looking forward to it here in the Xbox.com offices, though!


import from: http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/b/community_blog/archive/2011/10/12/mass-effect-3-goes-multiplayer.aspx

Bedazzled by Bejeweled 3

Bejeweled. The name of the game is legendary among casual game players. Even your Grandma knows about Bejeweled. When it first debuted in 2001, businesses around the world felt a severe dip in productivity as their workers couldn’t resist the oddly addictive game mechanic of matching three colored gems together, watching them disappear, and having the board rearrange. The game has been downloaded more than half a billion (!) times and more than 75 million copies have been sold. Yoicks.

Bejeweled 2 made its debut on Xbox LIVE way back in 2005 and while it had all the great traditional gameplay, it is perhaps more famous for its brutal and near-impossible achievements. Bejeweled Blitz LIVE, released earlier this year, featured a one-minute blitzkrieg version of the game perfect for those who tend to guzzle energy drinks and for whom caffeine is a barbiturate.
And now we have Bejeweled 3 releasing October 19 for 1200 Microsoft Points. So what do you do to gussy up an iconic match-3 game? You create new game modes, and provide lots of incentives and rewards. The game starts out with four game modes: Classic, Lightning, Zen, and Quest. Classic mode is the traditional untimed Bejeweled game, the perfect option for when you don’t want to be pressured or rushed but just want to play. If you love the adrenaline, then try Lightning mode where you must make as many matches as possible in sixty seconds (basically the concept behind Bejeweled Blitz LIVE).

Come down from that experience with Zen Mode, the endless version of the game which is meant to be relaxing, but you’ll still be trying to score major points and creating hypercubes anyway. The last basic game mode is Quest, where you attempt different mini-game challenges to acquire gems and release relics. For instance, the first four quests are: match 15 butterflies before the spider eats them, dig for five nuggets of gold before the time runs out, turn the entire grid to gold before time runs out, and match 120 gems in 20 moves or less. What??! I hear you say: Butterflies? Gold nuggets? Yep, those come from the “Secret” game modes.

There are four new game modes that are unlocked by completing certain tasks in the regular game modes:

• Butterflies: With each move made on-screen, a colored butterfly appears at the bottom of the grid. Every move made, the butterfly moves up one row of the grid. If it reaches the top, a spider eats it. Match the butterfly to two gems of the same color to make it disappear.
• Diamond Mine: You have a minute and a half to make matches along the bottom row of the grid. Each match blows up a chunk of ground, sometimes uncovering gold nuggets or other treasure. Clear the area and you go down another level. Dig to the 200-foot mark for an achievement.
• Ice Storm: Columns of ice rise from the bottom of the grid to the top. Once there, they take a few seconds to freeze solid but if they do, the game is over. Make matches within the columns to decrease the ice level. Making vertical matches in a column destroys the ice column entirely. The ice never stops though making this a rather frantic game mode.
• Poker: This is a tricky little game mode where you make poker hands out of your matches. For instance, match two different sets of three green gems together and that gives you a pair. Match three different sets of one color and two sets of another color for a full house. The board doesn’t completely reset after you score a hand so sometimes you can set up a good hand down the road. Skulls occasionally appear preventing you from scoring a particular hand, such as blocking out a pair. Score a pair and the skull randomly decides whether you lose or continue. Avoiding the blocked out hand eventually kills off the skull.

These new game modes are simple in concept, but force you to consider your normal Bejeweled strategies in a different way. Butterflies and Diamond Mine are especially fun (still stuck at the 160-foot mark in the latter). But in order to keep you playing through those new game modes, Bejeweled 3 offers up a two-tier reward system, with both the standard Xbox LIVE achievements and in-game badges that are awarded for skillful play. There are 15 common badges to earn, each of which comes in bronze, silver, gold, and platinum levels. There are also 5 elite badges for the truly difficult challenges (such as finishing Quest Mode). If you’re a perfectionist, you’ll be doing lots of practice (and grinding) to get all the badges at least up to gold (where you earn an achievement) and to reach Level 40 which earns you an elite badge.
There is tons of great gameplay in Bejeweled 3. It’s easy to learn, as even the new game modes are fairly simple in concept. But it’s going to be tough to max out your achievements on this one. This is also the kind of game that’s just perfect for the newcomer to video games. Grandma will be more than happy with the new developments but so will any lover of puzzle and match-3 games. Check out the demo on Xbox LIVE Marketplace October 19.

import from: http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/b/community_blog/archive/2011/10/18/bedazzled-by-bejeweled-3.aspx

Into the Breach with Dungeon Defenders

A cartoonish look and feel belies the very deep and complex game of Dungeon Defenders, which is a heady mix of role-playing game and the tower defense genre. The story has you protecting one or more Eternia Crystals from a legion of horrible creatures. Kill them all and make sure the crystal survives.

Dungeon Defenders is a combination action RPG/tower defense game that is a gem to play via four-player co-op locally or over Xbox LIVE. The game provides four different hero classes each with unique abilities and unique defense towers: Apprentice, Squire, Huntress and Monk. You can even change your Hero during the Build Phase in order to take advantage of the different heroes’ abilities. You can also play with four difficulty levels but frankly, the Medium level is more than difficult enough for me.
Build PhaseIf you’ve never played a tower defense game, be sure to take the full tutorial as there’s quite a bit to assimilate. In the Campaign levels, the game consists of two phases: the Build Phase and the Combat Phase. You stand in a level of the dungeon near the Eternia Crystal that you must protect. Use your existing mana to create various defensive installations around the map that will help to destroy enemies. This part is tricky because the maps are designed so that enemies have multiple ways to get at the crystal and you have a limited amount of mana (when enemies are destroyed they drop more mana so be sure to pick it up), and a limited number of defensive units you can build.
Check your map with the Left Bumper to scout out chokepoints for your installations, and to investigate the “Creep Doors.” These tell you how many and what kind of enemies are going to come through those doors. This is important so you don’t waste mana putting down a defense if only one guy is going to get near it. Concentrate your defensive firepower against the enemies’ offensive firepower.

Combat PhaseThe Combat Phase features waves of enemies. Some are quite easy to defeat. Set up your defenses, patrol the boundaries to make sure nothing has broken, and gloat in your heroics. But some enemies are immune to things like poison, fire, and lightning. Certain defenses will not work against them, so you must choose your defenses wisely. Pay attention to what enemies are attacking. Wyverns can fly so they’re going to soar right over your little barricades; throw up a harpoon gun to get at least a shot on them. Watching the battle via the map is also helpful. You can see where the enemies are attacking and if they’re dying off or if they have found a way around your defense.
If you’re not quick enough to repair your defenses, they’ll break and the horde will stream through. That’s when you can take matters into your own hands and start laying about with your chosen weapon (remember to block as some enemies do vicious damage, and pick up that mana fallen enemies leave behind; you’ll need it to create, upgrade, or repair defenses as you go). Thankfully, both you and the crystal heal in between waves, and if you die, you do respawn, but it’s still impossible to just go all Rambo on the baddies. Let the defenses do the work.
Leveling UpAs you progress in the game, your hero will level up. You can upgrade your hero’s powers, including Health, Damage, Speed and Casting Rate, hero’s special attack abilities, the Tower abilities including Health, Base Damage, Area of Effect and Attack Rate, and your Resistance levels to Damage, Fire Damage, Lightning Damage, and Poison Damage.
Also make sure you’re sporting the best equipment. You have five equipment slots and can gain better weapons and armor by raiding the treasure chests on the levels between waves (and by purchasing items back at the tavern). The inventory system is fairly clever. When you approach an item, you’ll see a green thumbs up if the item is better than what you’re currently wearing. A red thumbs down indicates your current attire is more powerful. Items can also be locked so that you can keep them in your inventory for future use. Items can even be locked in the tavern shop so you can purchase them at a later point when you have more mana.

The TavernAh, the tavern. Who wouldn’t need a tankard of ale after crushing one’s enemies? Here you can shop, sell the equipment you no longer need, look at trophies you’ve won and plan for the next adventure. The Tavern Keeper sells pets, weapons, and armor and can perform certain services such as changing your name or giving you an experience point boost.
The Tavern is kind of the game’s main menu. You can choose to continue the Campaign from here or take on some of the seriously difficult challenges in Challenge Mode. (Watch it, the first available challenge is recommended for heroes at level 40 or above!)
Man, There’s a Lot MoreSo, we haven’t even discussed pet collecting or item creation, or even the possibilities of co-op play. Gamers seem to love co-op and this is a perfect title for you and up to three of your friends to enjoy. Give each other responsibilities, mix and match hero types, and take on the evil masses. Some of the levels can get pretty big and hairy, so having friends around to take some of the brunt will be helpful.
There are other game modes as well, including Survival Mode where you face infinite waves, Mix Mode where waves of random enemies attack, and Pure Strategy where your hero cannot attack (traditional tower defense-style gameplay).
Whew! This is already a long blogpost and I don’t think I covered it all. There is a LOT to do in this game, from the long list of Accomplishments you can find in the Tavern, to going back and mastering each campaign level with better strategies and a more powerful hero, to going through all the levels with your friends to get an achievement. We haven’t seen a game this full of action/RPG and strategy elements in some time. From the loot and inventory system to combat to the building system to the list of things to strive for, Trendy Entertainment has nailed every single mechanic and made it fun.
Dungeon Defenders debuts on Xbox LIVE Marketplace October 19 for 1200 Microsoft Points. Get the demo and give it a try!

import from: http://forums.xbox.com/xbox_forums/b/community_blog/archive/2011/10/19/into-the-breach-with-dungeon-defenders.aspx