They are always prevalent and there if you got some spare minutes on the internet. My favorites are Armor Games and Kongregate, but there are several other good ones as well. Browser games are always a good distraction, especially if you are on a computer that has no games. There are quite a few really addicting and fun arcade games right now. Here's a list, with information, of a few of my favorites.

I've never played Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, but I would like to and I did get to watch it at E3. It is made by two people, Michel Gagne and Joe Olson, who have made a excitingly dark exploration game with a side-scrolling old Metroid look to it. The game also looks a lot like Outland, another XBLA Game, except you are a spaceship. They both have bleak, yet beautiful background environments, and they both have the same kind of dark world. You are an alien in a spaceship that is flying to the shadow planet, which is attacking your world, to try to stop the infestation. All of the art, music, graphics and animation seem to be really well done for this game, at least from the thirty to forty minutes of gameplay I've seen. Your spaceship get's upgrades, like Metroid or Outland, which make you stronger by giving you new tools or abilities.

Anyone who ever looks at our site has surely heard of this game. It was/is the main game of our 100th Post Contest and we've done previews of it as well, but if you have missed all that then let me attempt to sum up the overall idea of this game. It is a godlike game, seemingly similar to the old godlike PC games like Black and White or the Populous series, but it's not really much like either of those. I've played through half of the Xbox 360 version and I would have to say that it's not much like anything I've played before. Each level offers a challenge of some kind and they all require you to use abilities, terraforming and quick thinking to get your tiny little villagers all over the map. You are the Breath, the villagers god and protector. For example, one of the later levels involves fire plants and to explain why those suck I will need to explain villages, but first let's do some basic info.

That's right, it's been 5 years, but Nuclear Dawn finally has a release date of September 2011. If you are unfamiliar with Nuclear Dawn don't be surprised, it used to be in magazines and all over gamer's radars, but then it got pushed back for a very long time. I am happy to say that it looks pretty great, especially since they have been fine toning everything for so long. The game is a first person shooter and an real time strategy game mixed into one. Back when it was first being developed, RTS/FPS was a unique and new game genre, but now there has been a few other games that have attempted the mix, although none have done it all that well. Nuclear Dawn uses the source engine and it started out as a modification for Half Life 2, but it turned into a full fledged game. It is being developed by Interwave Studios, who is responsible for the Stargate: The Last Stand total conversion for Half Life 2.They have quite a lot of background information on the world of Nuclear Dawn, if you care to check it out head on over here. First off, watch one of their trailers for it so you can get a taste for what this game offers.

We don't know report on small news like this, but this is a Cinematic for Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, which we played and reported on at E3. Check out our preview of it from E3. We both liked it quite a bit, but we weren't sold on it. We both really enjoy the 40k Universe, but the game seems like a high polished third person shooter that doesn't offer anything significantly new or different than others of the genre. Although, if you love Warhammer 40k, especially Space Marines, then it makes this game a lot more enjoyable. My favorite aspect of the game was the melee; it had brutal melee moves that were very fitting and made you feel the power behind your chainsword as it drove down through the skull of a Ork. There is also a gameplay movie in our preview that shows off a few of those moves melee executions.

I was really excited about this game when I reported my first impressions of the demo and I am happy to say I still am excited after playing the first several hours of the retail game. It came out today on 7/26/11 for Xbox 360 and PS3, it is developed by Atlus. The gameplay does seem to be a bit repetitive, but if you can get past that then the story has a lot to offer. The gameplay also has quite a bit of depth, but so far it hasn't been too tricky. Although, I can see how it is going to get difficult. So far, each stage ,of which there are three parts (at least at this point in the game), has a new type of block added to it. There are several block types already that are mixed into the run and scramble of climbing the tower; one is a trap block, the other is heavy block and the third is decaying block. Even with those three the tower/climbing mini-game has become increasingly difficult. You get medals based on how well you do and so far I have gotten bronze (the lowest rank) on all parts except for the first stage. You may have no idea what I am referring to if you have not seen or played the game before, check out my demo impressions for some detail on the basic aspects of the game and story.

Infamous 2, for PS3 and developed by Sucker Punch Productions, is really long game; even without doing a playthrough for each of the two alignment choices I have managed to rack up about 20 hours. Unfortunately, there is no time log on your save games or anything so I'm just guessing on that one. It is still the same format at Infamous 1; an open world RPG. You get experience, you do quests and you use that experience to purchase new powers. I loaded up my previous data from Infamous 1 when I started the game, so I got a big bonus to experience and good karma points right off the bat (my Infamous 1 character was maxed out "good" alignment). I really liked that immediately upon entering the game there are many ties to Infamous 1, it made the transition easier, despite that Cole's voice is changed. I thought that I was going to complain about how the old Cole's voice was so much better, but I'm not too certain anymore after playing through about 70% of the game. One of the major changes right off the bat, is melee. Right after the introductory mission, Zeke makes a large metal dual pipe for you to channel your electricity through. This thing is powerful and can be upgraded several times through the game. The more you hit an enemy with it, the more your melee gauge fills and when that thing goes to the top you can do a very powerful finisher move.

One surprise is that you start the game in Empire City, but 99.9% of the game is spent in New Marias. It is a town that heavily resembles New Orleans in many ways, but it doesn't seem to be following the actual topography of the area too closely. New Marias, the first area, is a huge change from Empire City. It is full of intact buildings, power, citizens, cars and life. Despite that, as you progress through the story the city does constantly turn into a warzone; similar to Infamous 1. There are factions constantly fighting each other all over the city, three-four factions in the area I'm at, and of course plenty of random patrols and encounters. Right from the beginning everything about Infamous 2 feels so close to Infamous 1, but you quickly will find differences in every aspect of the gameplay and the world.

Missions/Quests
They are very similar to Infamous 1, except they are far less repetitive than the plentiful amounts of repeating quests that were in the original. Like previously stated, I am about 70% through the game, side quests and all, so there should be some truth behind my opinion that the quests are far more diverse than they were in Infamous 1. I would say that I've done each type of side quest 2-3 times so far. They also present the quests in much more interesting ways, they are never that simple anymore, now they are often multi-part quests that end in significant ways. I love how many of these *small* sidequests can be just as long as story quests and can actually have some story involved other than hey go kill these guys or hey go retrieve these supplies. That is not to say that they are all horribly exciting and fun, there are still quests that are filled with boring tasks, but they do their best to make them more engaging and have made them pretty painless. They now have the UGC (User-Created Missions) that is entirely optional and provides plenty of questionable experiences. Why questionable? Well, it doesn't help that most of the best missions are created by Sucker Punch and many of the actual user-created missions are far inferior. I can say that I've played a couple really fun missions made by other players, but it's offset by the amount of mediocre and atrocious ones that I've waded through.

Story
The force is strong with this one, but not overpoweringly so. Just like the first one, if you liked it in the first Infamous, the comic-ish cut scenes are pretty attractive and the story works its way through them strongly. The story also presents moral path choices continuously throughout the whole game, always giving you a chance to change your ways, if you wish to. Just like in the first, your powers will reflect your moral choices and main story choices. When you spend a lot of time going through all the side missions and collecting blast shards then the main story often gets a little forgotten, but every so often I get caught up in and just blast through a couple main story missions in a row. When you let it and don't worry about all the other parts of the game, the story gets into you and makes you care about Cole and the fate of New Marias.

Last Comments
I do plan to review this sometime soon, but between this and Catherine, both of which are long games, I don't know how speedily I can finish it. It also doesn't help at all that I spend a lot of time doing every possible side quest and wandering the streets exploring, but hey it’s an open world game, let me explore. If you are interested in Infamous 2, you probably already have it, but if you don't there is a pretty long demo on PSN and you should check it out. It gives you a taste of several portions of the game. Also, if you haven't yet check out our 100th Post Contest and contemplate entering. Thanks for reading.

-Written By Sean Cargle

It seems one of the games from our list of prizes has been delayed. Unfortunately, it's the most exciting one on the list, at least to me. From Dust has been delayed to August 27th, it's not 100% that it is delayed, but it does look like to be incredibly likely. Ubisoft hasn't been the nicest company to PC Gamers, ever, and this just shows how they like to operate; delaying a game at the last minute and only delaying it for PC. So, we are going to investigate and try to find a possible alternatives, but feel free to suggest games people would like and nothing over $20 bucks please. Also, if you still want From Dust for PC we can certainly just wait and award the winner/winners it when it does come out. Check out the article on From Dust being delayed over at Rock Paper Shotgun. If you have xbox360 and really want From Dust for that instead we may be able to send you Microsoft Points, since you cannot gift on xbox360 without codes from the developer. Apologies everyone. We will update this post with possible new games later on today.

This is a game that at first looked a lot like Magic the Gathering, then I looked into further and saw many Puzzle Quest elements, then I played it and realized that it's not much of a mix of either. It combines portions of solitaire and poker with power ups, rpg elements and collectible cards. I wasn't very interested in this game when I first saw it on one of steams daily sales not long ago, but I'm really glad I tried the demo. You must like poker and card games to really enjoy this game, but it has a lot of attractive and fun rpg qualities. The game is developed by Mystic Box, who are two guys that formed the company and this is their first game.

The "Summer of Arcade" kicks off with Bastion, and man did Xbox come out with guns blazing!  When I first saw the game at E3 I didn't think much of it at the time.  It had a very colorful environment and an epic narrator that comments on just about everything you do, but it was nothing to rave about at the time.  Now that I have put the hours into playing Bastion, it's easily one of the best downloadable arcade games I have ever played.

Bastion is set in a world that has just been ravaged by something called the "Great Calamity".  You awake up from a deep sleep and make your way to the safe haven known as the Bastion.  When "The Kid" arrives he finds the Bastion has suffered the same fate and must set out in a dangerous world and collect core shards to restore the Bastion.  Doesn't sound too different from any other RPG right?  Well the story isn't what keeps bringing you back.

The real star of Bastion is its game play.  While your hacking and slashing through each level, you are given a ton of customizable load out options.  Everything from your arsenal of weapons, elixirs that will give you bonus' and even selecting idols that will make your game even more challenging.  Though the levels are short, they are vastly different from each other and each give a unique challenge to overcome.  If you get bored with moving through the levels, there are also weapon challenges and a wave attack mode that will test your skills and reward you for your efforts. 


For an arcade game, Bastion is deep.  It gives you a lot of options and always has something different to offer.  With all the customizing it gives a very addictive quality that will keep bringing you back.  This isn't a one and done game, you will want to keep playing this over and over, not only for the second ending but also for all the different styles you can play.  The game is beautiful, the narration is epic and it will keep you busy.  I would definitely recommend this game to everyone out there.

Violent Score: 9 (out of 10)

I was hoping to review this game by tomorrow, but I unfortunately have to drive back to my home town this weekend and will not have my xbox360 or a tv. Although, Adam is very excited to review Bastion, by Supergiant Games, sometime this weekend, so watch out for that. I have thankfully gotten many hours, probably about 4 or 5 hours, with Bastion today already and I am loving it so far. So Bastion is about a world that was hit by the calamity. It is not our world, or anything like it, and the calamity is something fairly hard to fathom. Their world was destroyed by the calamity, randomly, and only few knew it was coming or what it even is. There are survivors, few, and you are heading out there to find them and restore some of the old world. While restoring the world you find unique items, skills and weapons. There are also quite a few buildings to create and challenges to conquer. This game is an adventure game for XBLA and it also has rpg elements like crafting, leveling and stats.

I am impressed. This crazy damn game is so odd and unique that I really want it. Atlus has always been known for doing odd and unique games, like the Persona and Shin Megami Tensei series, but rarely have they been so fun and intriguing. Catherine, for PS3 and 360, comes out July 26th. The game is about a man who has started having nightmares, very real nightmares, about running from someone. The running sequence is one of the mini-games of the game and it is the first thing you see and play. You have to move blocks, collect money and pillows (lives), and escape to the top of a tower of blocks; all the while someone gigantic is chasing you and trying to kill you.

First off, thanks to Rock Paper Shotgun for doing an article on this game. Lords of the Uberdark is a Minecraft/Terraria type of game except you have full control of terraforming the environment. Both Notch and the guys at Terraria have already said they are excited about this game. The developer, Aaron Bishop, claims it will be a 3d mining and building game. He says it is in pre alpha and by the footage it certainly looks that way. I am excited about it because it already looks to have really impressive terraforming tools. Also, the plans Aaron has for the game are very enticing to me. Check out what he has planned (directly from his website). Click on the title of this post for a direct link to the games website.

The Casual Gameplay Design Competition is a competition, for PC, that is held quite often for individual developers to create a game based on a specific goal. The one that I am speaking of is the 6th competition, out of what looks like 10. The winner of this competition was a very interesting game that I thought was worth mentioning to you all. It is called Small Worlds and it is a pixel art exploring game. You have 4 worlds to explore, little story to figure out, and just the w-a-s-d controls to move your little pixel person. The music by Kevin Macleod is very impressive and adds a lot to this game and without it the game would be far less enthralling. The game itself is written by David Shute. In the competition the game won First Place, Armor Games Award and the Audience Award. To check out the main website for this competition click on the title of this post and it will take you there.

At first glance this attractive pc game may look like a typical tower defense indie game, but it is really a reverse tower defense game. You are out there to take down their towers and lead your convoy to a glorious victory. You control one man, a leader, with a special suit that can support your men and also bring destruction to your alien adversaries. It is for PC/Mac only and it is developed by 11 bit Studios. Your hero, leader, commander that you directly control is used primarily for scouting out enemy positions and using power-ups to protect your convoy. The graphics are fantastic for a tower defense type of game, especially for a indie game. There is also a level of polish that is rarely seen among any game. For instance, I never ran into a single bug throughout a playthrough of the entire game and it's two extra modes. That's pretty spectacular no? To get your bearings on this game check out our video of the first Tokyo mission. We also have a video of the two missions after the first Tokyo one on our YouTube channel.