Ouya: Android Gaming Console

On July 20, 2012, when the Ouya team unveiled the system on Kickstarter, they boasted that Ouya was "A New Kind of Video Game Console." The small-console-that-could reached almost 1000 percent of its target goal. With so many impassioned backers behind it, Ouya looked like a promising and cheap alternative for console gaming. 

Compared with the consoles it hopes to challenge, especially the behemoth next-gen systems, the Ouya is tiny, about the size of a Rubik's Cube. Essentially, the device is an Android phone with its own version of an Android OS. Users visit the Ouya store for games designed specifically for the system. Every game is free—at first—but often require users to pay (typically $2–$10) to access the whole game or other features. 

The hardware under the hood is impressive considering its $99 price tag. The Ouya comes with a Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1 GB of RAM, 8 GB of on-board flash storage, HDMI connection at 1080p, and a USB 2.0 port. 

The system comes with one controller, which looks like a hybrid between a PS3 and Xbox 360 controller. Although the aesthetics are similar, the Ouya controller is seriously lacking when it comes to usability. I've had varying success trying to sync the controller to the system—sometimes it syncs automatically, and sometimes I can make a sandwich and take a shower before it's done. The analog sticks work well, but the D-pad is stiff, the triggers are awkwardly placed, and the other action buttons get stuck. Luckily, Ouya allows you to sync Xbox 360 or PS3 controllers with the device, which helps you avoid this handheld disappointment altogether. 

Once you turn on the system and go through the necessary setup menus, you're brought to four options on the main screen: Play, Discover, Make, Manage. Play lets you quickly open any games or apps you've already downloaded. Discover opens a Netflix-inspired interface that allows you to browse by subject, style, or genre. Make is for developers currently building games with the Ouya development kit, and Manage opens your typical console settings panel. The slick software aesthetics are a plus. 

It's unrealistic to think that the Ouya's game selection would be able to compete with Xbox Live and PlayStation Network right off the bat, when those huge companies have had years to develop their gaming libraries. But if Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are the mega-multiplex cinemas of the game industry, then Ouya is the art house that plays low-budget B movies. Many of the games seem like the shadows of greater titles. Shadowgun is basically Gears of War, and Ittle Dew, a biting parody of the much-loved Zelda franchise, makes you wish you were playing the original series instead. 

For the casual gamer, there are one or two titles you may recognize, such as the 2006 remake of Final Fantasy III or Sonic the Hedgehog. Other than that, you're on your own to explore the indie wonderland of Ouya—for better or worse. You'll find a few good games, even some exceptional ones like the pixel-adventure TowerFall or a personal favorite, Organ Trail (the Oregon Trail meets zombies.) 

Although Ouya is an Android-based platform, it doesn't have access to Google Play's robust gaming library with titles like Minecraft and Plants vs. Zombies. Users most use Ouya's store and are unable to play previously purchased Google Play apps on Ouya, and vice versa. For the moment, the platform is starved for gaming content. 

Will this lackluster gaming situation improve? If the download rates are any indication, then no—there's a huge drop-off from the number of consumers who purchase the free version of the game and those who fork over the cash for the full experience. (Also, Ouya has a minefield of tricks to get you to download the full version of games. Don't quickly press buttons to get through a title screen—you may accidentally purchase a game you didn't want.) 

Here's one way in which Ouya beats its competitors. The device is a hacker's dream. Only four mounting screws separate you from the device's electronic guts, allowing you to tinker, modify, emulate, and really make the device whatever you want it to be with few limitations. For the dedicated, patient, and tech-savvy, this is a major selling point. 

Whether this device is worth $99 depends on what you want to do with it. As a gaming console, it's probably not worth the money—at least not until the game library comes around. Even in the low-end market, you'd be better served purchasing a 3DS or a newly priced PS Vita—though Ouya could edge out the competition in the microconsole market like Nvidia Shield. If you love local multiplayer, the Ouya does offer some appealing titles and its multiconsole controller capability makes it easier, but Nintendo's multiplayer titles are ultimately better. 

Ouya doesn't really make sense as a streaming service, either. Sure, through side-loading you're given access to a collection of video services, but the low quality or stuttering playback makes it almost worthless. 

As an emulator and hacking tool? Maybe. If you're into that kind of thing, then the $99 price tag might just be worth it. Of course, Popular Mechanics doesn't encourage illegally downloading games, but it's obvious that this is a read-between-the-lines draw for many potential Ouya buyers. 

In the end, by not delivering a solid console device with at least one or two must-have exclusives, Ouya stamped out its own revolution before it even got started. Until it can appeal to the casual gamer and the hardcore hacker/developer, when it comes to consoles things will remain status quo.

'Halo: Spartan Assault' for WP8

Structured similarly to that series, Spartan Assault maintains the high standards you’ve come to expect from the franchise. And it comes close to delivering a console-quality experience.

The entire five-episode game is divided into short segments that take just a few minutes to play; ideal for the typical mobile gamer who plays in short bursts. Depending on how well you complete the segment you’ll earn bronze, silver, or gold stars. And you can replay the episodes with various difficulties turned on for experience point bonuses.

Those experience points and credits, which are earned and can be purchased with real money from within the game, are currency for equipment upgrades.

Where Spartan Assault stumbles is with its controls. The game is designed so that you hold your touch screen device with your thumbs in the bottom corners, manipulating the virtual thumbsticks.

That works fine if you’re playing on a Windows Phone, but when playing it on a heavier tablet, like the Surface I tested it on, that’s just not possible. Instead, I played it with the Surface on a table, using my index fingers instead of my thumbs.

Review: Saint Row lV

At one point in Saints Row IV, your character, the Boss, tells series veteran Shaundi that it’s been “one helluva ride”, perhaps inadvertently summarizing developer Volition’s latest title. What started out as little more than a franchise looking to piggyback on the success of Grand Theft Auto has travelled an awful long way to realise the parody-filled guise that it represents today. And although the Saints’ latest outing often shamelessly borrows gameplay mechanics from numerous other titles, it finally feels like something that it can call its own.

Conveniently, your own simulation takes place within a digital version of Steel port – almost an exact copy of the city from Saints Row: The Third. When you’re originally thrown into the now oppressively lit sandbox, there’s an undeniable feeling of disappointment. Apart from a few static neon towers that float ominously in the sky, these are the same streets and bridges that you’ve already driven around in the previous game.

However, once you gain access to super powers, Steelport takes on an entirely new guise, where verticality plays a key role when it comes to exploration. Traversal initially takes some getting used to, but soon you’ll be leaping over office blocks, dashing up the sides of sky scrapers, and gliding from one side of the map to another. Because of how fast you can run and how much distance you can cover in just one jump, gameplay adopts a far faster pace than series fans will be used to. No longer will you be speeding from one objective marker to the next in the best sports car that you can lay your hands on – instead, you’ll be hopping from one rooftop to the next with a huge grin on your face.

You won’t need money when it comes to evolving your powers, though, as they require you to spend certain amounts of collectible clusters to develop. These glowing blue chunks of data are spread across virtual Steel port, and you’d be forgiven for thinking that the act of gathering them would be a horribly tedious one, as it is with many other open world games. But because traversal becomes so effortless and enjoyable, snapping up every cluster that you see makes for a painless and even satisfying experience.

As you can imagine, super powers play a substantial role in keeping the game feeling fresh – although they’re perhaps not quite as prevalent as the title’s promotional material would have you believe. While there’s certainly a sense of variety when it comes to the abilities at your disposal, you’ll still need to rely on your weaponry during combat. That’s because powers tend to act as support attacks, giving you windows of opportunity to riddle your foes with bullets.

For example, the simplistic ‘blast’ technique comes in three forms: freeze, which unsurprisingly freezes your targets solid, flame, which sets opponents ablaze, and mind control, which forces affected enemies to fight by your side. Out of these three, flame alone causes noticeable damage, while the other two grant you the perfect opportunity to go on the offensive with a rifle or a baseball bat. Powers, therefore, are best utilised as go-to attacks when you find yourself having to deal with particularly burly adversaries or groups of foes.

That’s not to say that they’re not immensely fun to use, however. Super powers in Saints Row IV do a fantastic job of making you feel gloriously overpowered, especially when you start chaining different attacks together to create an unstoppable onslaught. Imagine being completely outnumbered by alien troops, as reinforcements speed onto the scene in hover cars. You vault into the air, tap left on the directional pad to quickly equip your freeze blast, and rain icy carnage on the unsuspecting foes. You then switch to the ‘stomp’ ability, and come down on the enemy with the force of an atomic bomb, shattering dozens of frozen minions into tiny pieces. 

You’ll need to use powers to knock out their shields, then open fire on them until a button-mashing quick time event is triggered, in which you dive inside of their body, causing them to explode. However, the appearance of these brutish adversaries causes all other enemies to vanish, and when you’re eventually strong enough to kill them in a matter of seconds, they soon become a source of great annoyance, particularly when you’re busy causing unadulterated chaos. It wouldn’t be so bad if the monsters scaled in power with the player, but as it stands, they do little more than interrupt gameplay.

Wardens aren’t the only boss-like enemies that you’ll have to face, either. In fact, it’s relatively difficult to be killed at all during your time with the game, and the lack of challenge may put a few people off. That said, you are playing as a super hero, and the title does a great job of making you feel like one.

At least, when the game feels like it. There are many points throughout the campaign where you're unable to use the powers at your disposal, whether it's due to the fact that you're outside of the simulation, or inside of someone else's. Later on though, when a block is enforced upon your abilities, it begins to grate. 

In terms of content, the release is packed full of things to do. The map itself is absolutely covered in various icons, and at first, it’s a daunting sight. Several activities from Saints Row: The Third make a return, such as the brilliant insurance fraud, where you’ll need to ragdoll into vehicles in order to rack up money – and the process is even better this time around since you can leap into the sky and come crashing down into traffic with a tap of a button. s.

The sole activity that doesn't provide necessary respite from the open world insanity is store hacking. If you're looking to pimp out a ride, buy weapons or ammo, get plastic surgery, or kit your character out in new clothes, you'll have to complete an extremely uncharacteristic mini game  where you're tasked with placing different shapes that link together on a grid. Not only is it jarringly boring in contrast with the rest of the game, but it's also timed, and once the counter reaches zero, you'll be locked out and aliens will flock to your position. 

 You’ll be told to go here, kill them, race this, steal that, but at least they provide a clear-cut structure for those looking to see everything that the game has to offer.

Strangely enough, the structure of the main story is heavily inspired by BioWare’s sci-fi trilogy, specifically Mass Effect 2. Since your allies are all stuck inside their own personal hell, you’ll be recruiting them one by one so that they can return to the real world – which just happens to be on a space ship inhabited by your crew. 

Without a doubt, the plot of Saints Row IV goes far beyond the poorly paced story of the last title, providing a series of events that are certain to keep you interested, with plenty of suitably stupid twists and turns that spice things up just as you’re beginning to adapt to the flow of things.

Visually, the release suffers from the fact that Steel port has been taken directly from the last game, but the neon lights that adorn the streets and buildings change from a menacing red to a calming blue as you take control of the territory, which gives the world a surreal atmosphere. Other strange effects are used, like the pixelation of people and vehicles as if they’re loading or glitching into being, and while it’s sometimes a little jarring to see up close, it cements the feel of the virtual world. 

 The voice acting is top notch, as is the comedic timing of each performance. The Boss’ voice in particular is masterfully acted, regardless of gender, with big names like Troy Baker, Nolan North, and Laura Bailey putting in superb performances. And of course, who could forget Robin Atkin Downes’ stunning portrayal of a cockney geezer.

The ambient music that changes depending on your current scenario is surprisingly well realized  too, and provides some catchy back beats to certain missions.  

Dishonoured: The Brigmore Witches

The Brigmore Witches, Dishonored's second expansion, might begin mere hours after The Knife of Dunwall ends, but it's a different beast. The horror that existed on the peripheries of the previous outings is now center stage, and with it comes greater challenges while peeling back the layers of Dunwall and the surrounding isles, revealing its darkest elements. This is Dishonored at its very best. 

Dishonored: The Brigmore Witches (PC [reviewed], PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Developer: Arkane Studios

Publisher: Bethesda 

Release: August 13, 2013

MSRP: $9.99

Coldridge is on edge after Corvo's escape. The guards are meaner, more paranoid; the river has been drained, stopping anyone from leaping off the bridge; and those considered responsible for letting the Lord Protector slip through the grasp of the Lord Regent are about to be executed. It's the smallest of the three missions, but it does the best job of connecting the old with the new.

It is in Drapers Ward, the textile and seamstress district making up the second act, where most of Brigmore takes place. Canals, sewers, once glamorous streets now filled with detritus and crumbling buildings, factories, and a dock collide, making it by far the most diverse location. A savage gang war is tearing the place apart, with the dapper, top hat-wearing Hatters on one side, and the Dead Eel smugglers on the other..

Even while exploring a prison filled with mechanical security systems and the one-time heart of the textile industry, magic flows throughout The Brigmore Witches. Runes and bone charms return, of course, giving Daud new abilities or upgraded old ones, but with them comes corrupted charms. Made from broken bits and pieces of other charms or put together by amateurs, they do not work as intended. A charm designed to make its owner's attacks stronger also makes said attacks slower, while another gives the wearer preternatural speed at the cost of hardiness. 

Frankly, they are a bit crap. Daud's a pretty deadly fellow as it is, so they payoff isn't really worth the negative side effects. There are so many regular bone charms (especially if you're using a save from Knife of Dunwall, letting you keep all the ones you found in the earlier DLC) that there's simply no reason to cripple yourself unless you want a bit of extra challenge. 

It's a missed opportunity. There are a few books and accounts of these corrupted charms scattered throughout the maps, and there's a huge difference between those being described and those Daud finds.

Daud's final mission is undoubtedly his most challenging. I confess that I'm glad I was going for a high-chaos run, as staying hidden from this army of eldrich women and avoiding all conflict would be a tall order -- though it's one I will endeavour to attempt somewhere down the line.

All I really wanted was more Dishonored, but what I got was something that surpasses it. Intricate level design, nuanced worldbuilding, and gameplay that demands a thoughtful approach even when resulting in flashy, bloody violence -- The Brigmore Witches is setting the bar very high for future stealth romps. 

Forza Motorsport 5

A new cinematic automotive journey begins for racing fans this November with the release of Forza Motorsport 5, exclusively for Xbox One. Today, Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios are announcing the details for the special edition versions of Forza Motorsport 5, including the Limited Edition and Day One Edition, both which are now available for pre-order from participating retailers.

Forza Motorsport 5 Limited Edition

Limited Edition Car Pack – This five-car pack features new cars that are already destined for legendary status. Each car in the “Forza Motorsport 5” Limited Edition Car Pack will feature a Limited Edition livery and will be tuned to the top of its respective class. The cars in the “Forza Motorsport 5” Limited Edition Car Pack include*:

2011 Audi RS 3 Sportback – More than a mere grocery-getter, the RS 3 Sportback marries performance with practicality. The result is a 340-horsepower grin-generator that will paste your head to the back of the seat and not crack a single egg in the process.

2012 Aston Martin Vanquish – As comfortable on the track as it is on cozy country lanes, the Aston Martin Vanquish is equal parts refined style and snarling, road-taming grit.

2013 Ford M Shelby Mustang GT500 – While the GT500’s aggressive lines suggest raw power and straight-line speed to spare, the sound of that big 5.8-liter V8 simply screams, “Get out of the way!”

2013 McLaren P1™ – The successor to McLaren’s legendary F1, the McLaren P1™ is an automotive highlight reel: technological innovation, gorgeous contours, and pure, unapologetic performance. Epic, legendary, astounding – words tend to fail when describing this car’s limitless potential.

2013 SRT Viper GTS – The return of the Viper has been celebrated by automotive fans worldwide. With an 8.4-liter V10 that’s capable of pushing the GTS to a top speed north of 200 mph, the 2013 Viper GTS has once again firmly entrenched its spot near the top of the American Muscle hierarchy.

1965 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C — Marketed as “the fastest streetcar in the world,” the 427 S/C is the most desirable of all the Shelby Cobra variants. Out of the 100 that were planned only 53 were built. They are nothing less than a purpose-built race car converted at the last minute for street use.

1987 RUF CTR Yellowbird — Dubbed the “Yellowbird” by journalists during a test drive event, the 1987 RUF CTR Yellowbird earns its name thanks to the canary-like chirping of its twin turbo blow-off valve. Just 29 of these cherished classics were built.

1991 Mazda #55 787B – One of the most beloved race cars of all time, the 787B holds the distinction as being Japan’s only winner of a 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Featuring a brash green and orange livery and an unmistakable screaming Wankel rotary engine, the 787B continues to inspire more than 20 years after its debut.

2011 Ford F150 SVT Raptor — Say hello to your rear view mirror's worst nightmare. The Raptor is essentially a factory-built pre-runner race truck with suspension to match its under-the-hood muscle. Slide it, jump it, whatever you like — it just begs for more.

2011 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport – Even among hypercars, the Veyron Super Sport stands alone. After all, this is the car that currently holds the Guinness record for “World’s Fastest Car” at speeds approaching 270 mph.

In addition, Forza Motorsport 5 Limited Edition owners will receive a custom Steelbook™ case, a decal sheet featuring “Forza Motorsport 5”, “Xbox One”, and Audi window decals, and 1,250 car tokens (a $9.99 value) that will allow Limited Edition owners instant access to any car in the game. The Forza Motorsport 5 Limited Edition will be available for an estimated retail price of $79.99 at launch and is now available for pre-order at participating retailers.

2010 Audi TT RS Coupe – Stuffed stem to stern with modern tech, the TT RS is the first TT model to carry Audi’s famed RS badge – a distinction that’s earned on the track from the moment you step on the gas.

2013 Ford Focus ST -- Debuting with the same 247-hp 2.0-liter turbocharged EcoBoost engine from the much larger Ford Explorer SUV, the new Ford Focus ST packs a serious punch. 

2011 Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera – Like great sculpture, the Superleggera’s chiseled form is carefully considered for maximum impact. That’s where the similarities end, however, because this work of art is best appreciated when it’s moving at top speed.

The Day One edition of Forza Motorsport 5 will be available for an estimated retail price $59.99 at launch and is now available for pre-order at participating retailers.

[UPDATE] – Over the coming days, we’ll be updating this story with a list of active pre-order links for the Forza Motorsport 5 Limited Edition, grouped by territory. We’ll be keeping this list fresh as we get word of retailers putting up their Forza Motorsport 5 Limited Edition pre-order links. Stay tuned!

The Bureau XCOM Declassified

 What once styled itself as the shiny new face of alien invasion now finds itself a background story to last year’s successful, unexpected resurrection of the turn-based strategy genre, which we’re pretty sure presented itself as first contact at the time. With XCOM’s long-term fans sated thanks to Enemy Unknown’s tactical charms, The Bureau can freely be its own game.

 Without Enemy Unknown’s management and base building, The Bureau’s HQ occasionally feels like a hangover or, worse, a limitation. When you do talk, there’s Mass Effect’s dialogue wheel but none of its relationship building. Every now and then you can perform an ‘Investigation’, an anaemic errand-boy quest within the base, one of which was so laughably simple we couldn’t quite believe it. Sent to search for a secret compartment in an AWOL agent’s office, we strolled into their workspace only to be confronted by a gleaming painting, highlighting its sudden interactivity. The code to the safe was on the shiny picture tacked to the opposite wall.

It’s an atmospheric space filled with incidental touches all the same: engineers work in hallways, radio operators smoke cigarettes to the stub, new recruits can be a bit sexist, and everyone’s face is lined with Cold War tension and topped with period hair detail. The base also contains the mission select menu, which does in fact feature some strategy. Alongside main missions – drawn-out, cutscene-heavy and crucial to the story – you can take agents on optional missions that usually offer experience alongside some technological rewards, and even send squadmates not currently in your party on missions of their own. This is as strategic as The Bureau gets. Each of these side-missions has a points value that the combined level of the agents you send must be equal to. It’s a little less complicated than the Assassin’s Creed games’ assassin management, but it successfully provides a layer of asset control to the game while also conveying that very XCOM-feeling that there’s more going on than you can handle alone.

To be fair, protagonist William Carter can handle a great deal alone, and even more with two other agents by his side. What 2K Marin has done here is taken Mass Effect’s cover-heavy, squad-power-based combat and built a tactical shooter around it, handing over finer control of party members to the player. You can queue instructions: sending an engineer into a specific position to summon a turret, for instance, before using a commando to taunt an Outsider Elite into its killzone. You’ll need to make use of these power combinations too, since aliens pour into arenas with alarming frequency. 

It’s challenging, then, but often not particularly tactical. The Bureau’s most dangerous foes aren’t the Sectoids and Outsiders, which try to use cover, but things like Mutons and Sectopods, which effectively charge at the player while soaking up ammo and all the powers you can throw at them. Equally reticent to stay in position are your very own teammates. One moment they’ll wander away from the flanking position you suggested; the next they’ll stare a Muton defiantly in the eye while making a suicidal last stand.

The Bureau’s focus on squad management and abilities gives it a rhythm distinct from other thirdperson, cover-based shooters, and combat provides a solid, often intense and engaging core on which to hang 2K Marin’s terrifically well realised ’60s America.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is released on August 23 in the EU, and is out now in the US for 360, PC and PS3. PC version tested.

Review: Madden NFL 25

Over the years, the Madden series has seen a number of features debut, disappear, and even return again. 

 Last year's overly-effective man coverage has been tuned down, and the ease of leading both streak and wheel routes to the far inside of the field, perpetually out of the reach of defenders is a thing of the past. EA Tiburon also introduced a better read option system in Madden 25 this year, in that the game identifies which defenders to watch out for when calling the tricky plays where both the quarterback and running back are a threat to run with the ball in their hands. Madden 25 also includes the new version of the physics engine first introduced in Madden 13, the Infinity Engine.

In Madden 13, players could not reliably run between the tackles on either side of the offensive line, thanks to the sensitivity of collisions in the Infinity Engine. Madden 25 has swung things in an entirely different direction, as every running back in the game seems like a viable threat to move the chains. After swapping out the Jets' offensive line and tuning run blocking down to zero in the game's slider settings, I found myself pulling off five-yard gains with the team's 74 speed-rated fullback. On my first read option attempt with QB Greg McElroy under center, I ran for a touchdown with the 64 speed-rated player. In Madden terms, these are quite slow, trudging players performing in exceptional ways that you just don't see on Sundays. Madden 25 is in dire need of some tuning to help balance the running game.

Madden 13 marked the introduction of Connected Careers, a mode that combined three career modes into one umbrella section of the game. This year, that mode was taken to the next level in Connected Franchise, which brings elements from past games like NFL Head Coach to the forefront in its new owner mode. By becoming the owner of an NFL franchise in Connected Franchise, players can still control their team on the field, but are also tasked with front office decisions that affect the profitability of the team. Wrapped in a beautiful new menu system (an excellent and easy-to-understand user interface that's pervasive throughout the whole game), owner mode features sections for setting concessions and merchandise prices, hiring and firing your staff, speaking to the media, issue stadium upgrades and more. 

Among the options in owner mode, players can also relocate teams to one of 17 cities. It seems like an unreasonable restriction at first, but EA Tiburon opted to make each city and its also-limited team name options stand out as being more realistic. Turning the Dallas Cowboys into the Oklahoma City Bisons resulted in a team with a logo and colors that actually looked like something that could debut in the NFL, and they were greeted with appropriate banter from the game's returning commentary team, Jim Nantz and Phil Sims. After discovering that the mode's quick-save option would create a new career mode file instead of overwriting it, I opted to jump back into an earlier version of one connected franchise and make different decisions for my Bisons, only to pleasantly find my team moving in a different direction the second time around with my new decisions. Players can also import their NCAA Football 14 draft classes to Connected Franchise this year and control all 32 teams if they so choose, two options woefully missing from Madden 13.

The game that marks the series' silver anniversary offers a good mix of features introduced in the games that came before it. Connected Franchise, with the introduction of owner mode, is a great realization of digital NFL ownership offerings seen in the past, while the new ball-carrier moves push the game forward. Of course, Madden 25 could use an update or two to iron out the Infinity Engine and blocking system's tendency to let nearly any running back plow through the defense.

Halo: Spartan Assault released in U.Sfor Windows 8 Phone

Halo: Spartan Assault, the first mobile game in the franchise’s 12-year history, has been impressing critics and racking up lots of glowing 5-star reviews since its worldwide debut last month.

  It’s “spectacular,” Pocket Gamer wrote, and “gives Windows Phone and Windows 8 gamers something to crow about." Betanews’s Brian Fagioli concluded: “I can say with confidence that Halo: Spartan Assault is the best smartphone game I have ever played.

But for some U.S. gamers, I know it’s been a long month: The title has been available only to Verizon Wireless customers. Until today. I’m happy to report that Halo: Spartan Assault is now available for all Windows Phone 8 smartphones in the U.S. 

The game—which costs $6.99 and requires 1 GB RAM—features 25 never-before-played missions set in the years between Halo 3 and Halo 4, offering new insights into the first missions of the Spartan Ops program, the history of the Human-Covenant wars, and the rise of Commander Sarah Palmer. If none of that means anything to you, don’t worry: The game was designed to appeal to both hardcore residents of Halo nation and newbies alike. Played from a top-down—as opposed to first-person—perspective, it features rich storytelling, stunning graphics, and tons of action.

Ryse: Son of Rome

Ryse has microtransactions

Ryse: Son of Rome will feature micro transactions to help players accelerate their progression within the game's multiplayer mode, it has been revealed.

Demoing the game to VideoGamer.com at Gamescom this morning, a Microsoft producer compared Ryse's system to Mass Effect 3's multi player unlocks and FIFA: Ultimate Team packs, revealing that progression within Ryse's multiplayer is based around armour unlocks and customisation.

"The way that you get Armour is very similar to how you get it in like Mass Effect or FIFA. You only earn gold while playing multiplayer [and] you use that gold to buy booster packs. Those booster packs contain random sets of loot. Based on the different tiers of loot that you get - whether you buy Bronze, Silver or Gold Packs - guarantees whether you get rare or common items.

"Say for instance a gold pack costs 15,000 gold, [and] you've only got 12,500 you can actually buy the difference and only spend a little bit to make it go to a Gold Pack. So we offer some variety there."

The producer adds that Ryse's multiplayer stages have been designed for players who wish to grind for additional experience or gold.

Ryse: Son of Rome is due to launch alongside Xbox One this November.

Mirrors Edge 2

EA has put a lid on talk that Mirror's Edge 2 might

"It just happened to be a game design that I don't think you can build on an old-gen machine," EA's Patrick Soderlund told Polygon in a Games com chat. "It doesn't work the way it's designed. And that also appeals to me. We could maybe get it to work on one, but we would have to compromise on too many things. With this we didn't have to."

There's still precious little detail as to what Mirror's Edge 2 amounts to - fellow EA man Frank Gibeau says it's an open world game. Soderlund suggested at E3 that the original was a "little bit old school on its game design and compulsion loops", and that the sequel would be "more of an action adventure game, but true to what the first one was to a large extent".

"It was something that I just looked at and said, we have it, let's do this," Soderlund told Polygon. "It wasn't so much the story, even though that's very important, but it was about the game and how the game was going to be played and what you can do and what Faith does.

Rumor: PS3 12 GB

Rumor: 12GB PS3 Coming to the USA and Canada on August 18th for $199.99

Out of all the different PS3 systems that have been available since console launch (60GB, 80GB, 120GB, 1 billion GB, etc), one that hasn’t reached North American shores is the 12GB version.

Since we aren’t able to verify the 12GB PS3, and whether it’s launching in Canada, as well as the United States (Sony usually treats North America as one, but it’s possible we could have another Wii Mini situation on our hands). Should it come out, it will likely also release alongside the ‘External Mounting Bracket’, which you’ll need to buy if you want to replace the HDD – in the UK, it currently costs £10 ($15.50).

Call of Duty Black Ops ll Apocalypse

Get ready “Call of Duty®” fans. On Aug. 27, Activision and Treyarch will launch “Call of Duty: Blacks Ops II Apocalypse” – the fourth and final DLC map pack for “Call of Duty®: Black Ops II” – first on Xbox Live. 

“Call of Duty®: Black Ops II Apocalypse” marks Treyarch and Activision’s fourth and final DLC map pack for “Call of Duty®: Black Ops II,” capping-off the year with two all-new Multiplayer Maps, two re-imagined fan-favorite Multiplayer classics, and an alternate-reality Dieselpunk Zombies experience that transports players to the undead-infested trenches of a World War I battlefield.

MULTIPLAYER:

Pod: A failed utopian community from the 70’s has left stacks of dilapidated residential pods nestled into an abandoned cliff side. Its residents long gone, the modernist compound now hosts frenetic combat as players must run atop the pods and navigate their multi-tiered interiors for a strategic edge.
Frost: Fresh snow meets explosive gunpowder in this snow-capped European city, where the bridge over a frozen canal separates it into two sides, requiring players to employ multi-level traversal strategies to outsmart and ultimately outshoot their enemies. 
Takeoff: Though marooned in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, this remote launch site is all about the close-quarters combat, combining tight corners with open spaces for combat encounters reminiscent of the multiplayer map "Stadium" from “Call of Duty®: Black Ops ‘First Strike.’”
Dig: Two archeological dig sites in Afghanistan have unearthed the perfect playground for combatants eager for hectic, unceasing battle, as this re-imagining of the fan-favorite “Call of Duty®: World at War” map "Courtyard" delivers two major chokepoints, a wide open layout, and raised platforms.

ZOMBIES:

We were there at the beginning and we’ll be there at the end!

Unleashed after the Germans unearthed the mysterious new “Element 115,” this next chapter in the Zombies legacy will explore the saga’s origins as players reunite with an unlikely band of soldiers that come together to defeat the greatest evil the world has ever seen, using a period-specific arsenal that includes Wonder Weapons that harness supernatural powers, a diesel-drone and Mark IV tank, as well a new perk machine and power-ups – and that’s just the start. Players will need all the help they can get to succeed in defeating the undead, as well as evading an unprecedented 1,000-foot tall robot abomination. In this stylized undead adventure, they’ll need every advantage if they have any hope of surviving one of Treyarch’s deepest Zombies experiences to date.

Splinter Cell: Blacklist has gone gold, new trailer released

Splinter Cell: Blacklist has gone gold ahead of its August 20 release in North America on PS3, Xbox 360, PC and Wii U. It’s out August 23 across Europe. Ubisoft Toronto has also pushed out a new ‘Multiple Choice’ trailer.

IGN reported that the game had gone last night and senior producer Alex Parizeau told the site, “We couldn’t be more proud of our team.

“This is a huge accomplishment for Ubisoft Toronto and for the studios that collaborated with us on this ambitious project – Ubisoft Montreal, Ubisoft Shanghai, Ubisoft Bucharest and Ubisoft Pune. Splinter Cell Blacklist is the first project to go gold in our studio, and I can tell you the atmosphere here is electric.”

“We brought together an amazing team from across the industry who went all in to deliver the biggest game in the series. I know I speak on behalf of the entire team when I say we can’t wait to get the game into the hands of our fans.”

IGN has a new watermarked trailer that focus on the multiple choices afforded to players while engaging in missions

Sniper : Ghost Warrior 2

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 features the kind of AI where a missed shot pinging into a rock at a goodly distance can immediately give away the player's position, but the enemy will routinely fail to hear their comrade's freshly squeezed corpse slumping into a wall right beside them, or even the sharp crack of the player's unsilenced rifle from relatively close range.

It has to be said that kills are also lacking the graphic payoff that rival sniping game Sniper Elite V2 offers up. In that game, shooting someone in the eyeball didn't simply have the enemy go limp and fall over, it was more likely that players would be treated to a hilariously overdone slow motion X-Ray closeup as the projectile burrowed through his eyeball, spiraled slowly through his brain (spattering chunks of gray matter all over the place) and then triumphantly emerging from the back of his cranium with a solid chunk of his head missing. Written down, it sounds thoroughly disgusting. In practice, it was a comically overdone, yet ultimately satisfying payoff to a shot well targeted.

In Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, everyone simply falls over.

Occasionally a kill-cam will leap into action to portray a bullet's magnificent journey into someone else's nutsack, but it always ends up with the bad man simply grunting before promptly falling over.

Not to worry though. If a heavily-scripted four or five hour campaign with dreary fatalities doesn't get one's saliva all a-drooling, why not hop into the multiplayer mode for the intoxicating adrenaline rush of competing against unpredictable human opponents? Filled to bursting with two whole multiplayer maps and offering the ever-popular Team Deathmatch, it's... sorry, I can't take this any further. It's not awful, but for most people the multiplayer will likely prove to be a waste spent watching the scenery for minutes at a time as they attempt to discern miniscule flickerings of movement through their scope.

It probably reads like I despised Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2, though that's not entirely accurate. It was no more boring than certain competing AAA titles that are so petrified of things going wrong that they never allow the player to experiment further than holding "up" during a cut-scene where the entire world is exploding around them. It was simply another bland experience where I found myself listening to someone telling me what to do, who to shoot and when. Rinse and repeat until the world is saved.

According to the ESRB, this game contains blood, drug references, intense violence, sexual themes and strong language.

Here are some screenshots...

Platforms: Xbox 360, PC, PS3, Wii U, VITA, MAC