Pads & Panels

#3 Minecraft (PC, Droid, iOS)

Publisher/Developer: Mojang

After years in the making and developing a rabid fanbase, thanks to giving users who preordered the constantly evolving beta, Minecraft finally hit version 1.0 this year. The indie sensation gives gamers a randomly generated world to make their own. Dig up materials during the day and build a homestead and weapons to fight the monsters that show up at night, or hit up some of the dungeons and mine away for diamonds. Minecraft is whatever the player wants it to be. (more…)

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Title: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3

Platform: PS3, 360, PC

ESRB: M

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Infinity Ward, Sledgehammer Games

Review By: Eric Stuckart

Rating:

Ah, Call of Duty. It must be coming towards the end of the year already. With Modern Warfare 3, the behemoth military shooter franchise finally sees the end of its Modern Warfare storyline with this game, in my opinion the first in the series that truly doesn’t really see much in the form of innovation so much as doing just enough to get by and get the title out.

While that last statement still rings, keep this in mind: Modern Warfare 3 is still an expertly crafted first person shooter, with all of the flourishes that the series has become known for. It’s just that I’m starting to feel a bit of fatigue from the annual release of these games. There’s only so far one can take this genre, and for some people — myself included — it’s starting to see a logical end. Or a need to go back to the blueprints and start thinking up a new war style to exploit to keep things fresh. But I digress. (more…)

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Title: Blacklight: Tango Down

Platform: XBLA (PSN, PC)

ESRB: T

Publisher: Ignition Entertainment

Developer: Zombie Studios

Rating:

Review by: Archie Easter

A downloadable title with big aspirations, Blacklight: Tango Down is a slightly futuristic FPS that’s no slouch in the graphical department. Dashing good looks aside, Blacklight’s central multiplayer mode is fun and includes much of the standard FPS fare in its seven modes like Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Last Man Standing. Much in the same way as many popular shooters like Modern Warfare and Battlefield, progression trough the multiplayer allows players to gain ranks and unlock new weapons in addition to armor customizations. While the game’s presentation hints at an overarching storyline, the scant backstory of the game is buried in two small paragraphs in the “How to Play” section. The only single-player mode available is the 1-4 player cooperative “Black Ops” mode that consists of short mission objectives that lack any narrative against waves of AI opponents. In addition, the enemy AI in this mode is out to lunch, with enemies that get stuck behind cover and routinely run to the same positions. (more…)

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Battlefield 3 Live Demo Impressions

Story by Archie Easter

While at C2E2, I got a chance to sit in on a live demo of Battlefield 3. The rep stressed that it was extremely early and unfinished code, so they didn’t allow pictures of any kind. Using DICE’s new Frostbite 2 engine, Battlefield 3 is now boasting some heavy duty tech to back up its arguably more tactical and compelling gameplay. (more…)

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2010 Holiday Gift Guide – For the Xbox 360 Exclusive Fan…

By P&P Staff

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Fable III

The third entry in one of Lionhead’s most popular franchises maintains what works in the series while ironing out many of the rough patches that garnered complaints amongst fans. Fable III‘s story of revolution is much more engaging than pevious narratives, and there are many more nooks and crannies to explore within the world of Albion. (more…)

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Title: Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Platform: PS3 (360, PC)

ESRB: M

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Developer: EA DICE

Rating:

Review By: Eric Stuckart

Throughout film and ultimately gaming history, it seems like the Russians have always been getting the shaft. No matter what the plot, it’s a safe bet that if the film or movie has some sort of terrorist plot, the Russians are somehow masterminding it. And even more stereotypically, it seems like nine times out of ten their henchmen are either of South American or Middle Eastern descent.

Things don’t change this paradigm in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. However, EA Digital Illusions CE (DICE for short) really fine-tuned things, set their sights on that other present day FPS, Modern Warfare, and in the process created a game can give that competition a run for its money. (more…)

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Title: BioShock 2

Platform: 360 (Also PS3, PC)

ESRB: M

Publisher: 2K Games

Developer: 2K Marin

Rating:

Review by: Kevin Haverty

It’s time to revisit Rapture in BioShock 2. It has been eight years since the events of the first game and Andrew Ryan’s old political rival, Sofia Lamb, has taken over. Gamers take control of Subject Delta, a Big Daddy, as he must get his Little Sister, Eleanor, daughter of Sofia Lamb, back before he slips into a coma. Augustus Sinclair, a businessman of Rapture, directs Subject Delta and fills him in on some of the changes that have taken place. (more…)

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Title: MAG

Platform: PS3

ESRB: T

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Developer: Zipper Interactive

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Go ahead and call MAG a one-trick pony. It’s not a totally inaccurate statement. MAG revels in the fact that it’s a multiplayer-only affair, the only true bullet point of which is bringing good 256-player online first-person shooter action to the console market. But don’t think for one second that assessment makes it a bad game. Zipper Interactive delivers on its promise. Its battlefields and its action come on a scale that ranges from big to massive. But more importantly there’s a complexity to the gameplay to makes it a different experience than other console shooters, and in many ways more accessible to a wider audience in a genre often overcrowded with hardcore mentalities. (more…)

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Title: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Platform: 360 (Also PS3, PC)

ESRB Rating: M

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Infinity Ward

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Following up one of the most successful shooters of all time is no easy task. It’s made even more difficult when that shooter, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, was not only a major monetary success, but also a critical gem that pushed the boundaries for single-player, first-person storytelling and featured near-perfect online multiplayer. Add it all together, along with the fact that it has been an incredible year for big-name games, and Infinity Ward had plenty of pressure going into the sequel to 2007’s “Game of the Year.”

But despite that pressure, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 could be justly strapped with the banner, “Mission Accomplished.” Even if there are some minor indiscretions to be noted, Modern Warfare 2 does a successful job of remaining faithful to the formula for Infinity Ward’s success, while also making some small, but significant changes to add to the fun. (more…)

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Title: Borderlands

Platforms: 360 (Also PS3, PC)

ESRB Rating: M

Publisher: 2K Games

Developer: Gearbox Software

Rating:

Review by: John Gustafson

With Borderlands, Gearbox Software has created a hybrid role-playing shooter that takes the typical first-person shooter controls and frames them within the role-playing game background of titles like Diablo and Fallout 3. The comparison between Borderlands and games like Diablo or Fallout 3 are unavoidable, and intentional by the developer. When stripped of all the extraneous layers (there aren’t that many), Borderlands takes Diablo 2’s obsessive loot system and throws it into a brighter version of Fallout 3’s wasteland with the option of multiplayer. The tantalizing thought of a multiplayer Fallout is perhaps the flashiest selling point and turns out to be the strongest part of an otherwise average single-player RPG. (more…)

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