The Rundown

Past, Present and Future:

Here it is, folks. A quickie, half-assed review of several games recently released or nearly in our hands. The end of 2011 is packed with promising gaming goodness that ought to tide even the most avid gamer over until at least...January.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

Released Sept. 6th, 2011, this Grim-Dark themed powerhouse star of tabletop, RPG, RTS, novels and general Sci-Fi excellence was truly Epic, albeit short-lived. Intense, non-stop action, graphic violence & gore, beautiful cutscenes and a well-done, faithful-to-the-IP storyline, I immensely loved Space Marine for 15 or so hours it took to reach it's shocking & entirely WH40k loyal conclusion. Absolutely worth the money for any diehard fan of the genre. Go forth my Battle-Brothers, suffer not the Heretic to Live.

Gears of War 3:

Sept. 20th gave us the long-awaited and highly anticipated finale to the much-beloved Gears of War series, and while I was new to the IP with the third game, I was quickly drawn into the story and gameplay. Absolutely stunning environments, addictive & nearly non-stop combat (Seriously, for every 15 seconds you spend doing idle things like "talking" or watching cutscenes is answered by another 30 minutes of gunfire, explosions & lambent berserkers raping your face), the game was exciting from the first minute to the very last. My friends & I went through it on Hardcore and it was a great challenge, full of instant-deaths, failed grenade tags, 30 minute boss fights that honestly gave a great sense of achievement with a spectacular grand finale.
For those of you loyal to the series, well, you've probably already bought & beaten this game, for those of you still on the fence, I give it my highest recommendation. Truly a winner.

Battlefield 3:

Coming out October 25, Battlefield promises us all the explosive, fast-paced FPS fun we've come to expect from EA/DICE...and more. Many details can be found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlefield_3 or www.battlefield.com/battlefield3. Suffice it to say, if you're not eagerly awaiting this release, you might be one of those other people. The ones waiting for the next Call of Duty. I don't strictly stand on one side or the other of this fence, but my friends play BF, so that's where I'll be biding my time from the 25th til....

Lord of the Rings: War in the North;

Ahh, November. BF3 will quickly get shelved (Temporarily, mind you) as I lay my mitts on this little treasure. Developed by Snowblind Studio's (Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, Champions of Norrath), everything I've seen & heard about this game looks fantastic. Sure, it's LOTR, and ever since the movies came out we've been innundated with games, action figures, posters, at least a dozen different Blu-Ray/DVD special editions, extended cuts, director's cuts, etc. So, what's different this time? Well, for one, while Frodo is off to the south heading for Mordor and certain doom to destroy the One Ring, you will be, as the title suggests, warring it up in the North. Cameo's are expected & confirmed by all-too familiar faces, no doubt to set us on our path and what have you. What appeals most to me is the co-op campaign mode, which the game was actually designed around. More info can be found http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_War_in_the_North and www.warinthenorth.com/.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

And finally, the long-awaited Elder Scrolls V hits the shelves 11/11/11. War in the North will take it's place beside Battlefield 3 as my friend & I spend the next segment of our lives exploring, destroying, abusing and plundering Tamriel's northernmost continent, Skyrim.
You can find a massive amount of information about this game at virtually any site Google points you towards, so let me just say, I have long since thrown out "Cautiously Optimistic" and gone into full-blown geek-mode for this game. As my comrade said in his earlier post, what we're most hoping for is all the awesomeness of Morrowind with some of the finer aspects of Oblivion. The return of both the Morag Tong AND the Dark Brotherhood (Same writer from Oblivion, so expect more kickassery), Dragon Shouts, Double Fisting Magicka & Dual Wielding. A re-vamp to the level system (Yay, classless, non-skill based XP leveling!), new spells and much, much more.
I fully expect to still be playing this game past Christmas and into the New Year as I delve into each & every dungeon and cave, complete every quest line and locate as many secrets and as much filthy lucre I can get my greedy paws on.

Game On, Brothers & Sisters

-Keredain-