Assassin's Creed III: The Tyranny of King George

With this appropriately incredible teaser image, Assassin's Creed III has revealed what is perhaps the greatest downloadable content since.. Maybe ever. 

The Tyranny of King George, an episodic series of DLC, is an alternate universe in which our presidente uno George Washington is driven mad with power. In the dictionary of Assassin's Creed, that is the definition of assassination target. It'll be George Washington vs. Connor Kenway, just like I was taught in history class! 

Mark of the Ninja: Stealth Revival

I often wonder what it would be like to be a ninja. It's been a secret dream of mine since childhood, along with the desire to be an astronaut, dinosaur, underpaid startup employee, and unheralded videogame blogger. But at the end of the day, ninja is the one dream that persisted. If gaming has taught me anything, it's that ninjas are pretty much space marines with swords who every now and then rely on the cloak of shadow to replenish health before running back into broad daylight, slicing everything up like a food processor. Having done plenty of study on my future profession, I'm wise enough to know ninja blend into crowds like normal folk, using simple subterfuge to complete their tasks. While Mark of the Ninja isn't quite on that level of subtlely, it's one of the best representations of my shadow brethren since Tenchu. But is it any good?

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Mecha? In My Halo 4? Yesplzthx!

Just so you know, there will be giant bi-pedal tanks in Halo 4 which can shoot machine guns, missiles, and even stomp the fuel cells out of Warthogs and Ghosts. Apparently, they can also hump a corpse pretty damn good. This is a good addition, right? Of course it is.

I can't wait to see what the clever Halo community cooks up using the Forge. Who needs a new Armored Core game?

Halo 4's Covenant Weapons: Old Classics

My bad for not pushing this in your faces sooner. I love staying on top of Halo 4 details, but completely missed this one. Either way, here it is, club music set to the flashing lights and quick kills of energy based weapons. While the Forerunners may have the award locked up for flashiest weapons, don't write off the Covies tried and true series staples. Of note: the Needler. After beginning its life cycle as an under-powered, pink piece of crap, it has become increasingly better with each installment of the series. I expect the Needler to be the Gods weapon in Halo 4, no doubt. 

I'm so ready. I can't wait. And while I am enjoying playing Borderlands 2 right now, it's really just a time sink until Halo 4. Pre-order before it's too late! (affiliate link)

Overstrike Ditches the Humor and Personality, Becomes Fuse

Overstrike circa Summer 2011

During E3 2011, a game called Overstrike was announced via non-gameplay trailer. While details never really surfaced, we were able to surmise that Overstrike had something to do with a team of super-spies, dripping with personality, kicking all kinds of ass amidst colorful backdrops; think Team Fortress 2 meets Borderlands. Nary a shred of information regarding Overstrike released from that day until now. Unfortunately, humor and personality doesn't sell games, or so some of these companies think.

Overstrike has been cannibalized into Fuse, a shell of its former self that puts the focus on third-person shooting action and completely strips every endearing part of the source material. Insomniac Games what the fuck are you thinking? You've taken a new IP that had tons of buzz and made it a grey-brown shoot-and-snore fest. Oh but you can use different types of ammo and work as a team of four players! And what? That's nothing we haven't seen before, in fact it's something we see almost every damn day. Witty dialogue, colorful locales, characters with real personality and a sense of humor? Something gamers rarely see. So what happened? Did the boys at EA drop the hammer on your mockups, squeezing out every inch of life to fit their standards? 

Obviously, I'm pissed off about this. Feels like I just finished playing Inversion, one of the most lifeless games I've played in a while, but it looks like Fuse is challenging for that title. Take a look at the Overstrike trailer above and the Fuse trailer below and tell me: do you think these changes have been made for the better? 

Bullet Points: Avengers Initiative

Hulk looks like he's having fun, but don't be fooled - he's wishing someone could kill him

Marvel knows a big thing when they have it, and honestly when it comes to their latest focus of movies, big things have been few and far between of late. Seems like any Marvel flick that doesn't feature Robert Downey Jr. is doomed for mediocrity. On the strength of Mr. Tony Stark and Joss Whedon, The Avengers has been absolutely steam-rolling everything from the box office to the BluRay, and everything in between. With a property which can do no wrong, Marvel Entertainment now attempt to conquer mobile gaming by way of Avengers Initiative, an Infinity Blade rip-off.

There have been quite a few Infinity Blade rip-offs of late, however most tend to put their own spin on things rather than straight re-skin the source material. In all honesty, that is exactly what Avengers Intitiative feels like, rather than its own experience. The game is set to unfold in four separate chapters spanning The Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man, where each chapter costs $7. As the Avengers' most powerful and volatile member, I was excited to see what The Hulk would be able to do, expecting building leaps, wall runs, limb ripping, and general chaos. What I received instead was a literal stroll down memory lane, using memories stolen from Chair Entertainment.

+ Infallable Infinity Blade gameplay
-  Uninspired re-skin of Infinity Blade
-  IAP fueled customization system
-  Sad excuse of a Hulk

The Avengers' Hulk was a quivering, snarling, white-hot bowl of gamma-irradiated terror. Hulk as he's presented in this title is more doctor than destroyer, casually walking up to enemies, waiting for the player to initiate the battle, then half-heartedly taunting before engaging in the repeated swing of fists. Give us the Hulk. Let us barrel through enemies like the unstoppable freight train the green guy is. We want to jump over mountains and gamma clap helicopters mid-flight. Avengers Initiative is a sad cash grab that deserves to be disrespected as Loki was at film's end. If the other chapters plan to be much the same as this, shame on you Marvel.

Mark of the Ninja Sneaks onto XBLA

As of yesterday, there has been a breach on Microsoft's Xbox LIVE Arcade. Early Friday morning, a shady figure in dark clothing with his face masked was seen infiltrating the platform using a combination of blinding speed, still patience, viscous killer instinct, and deathly silence; this ninja as we will call him, was designed to operate under the nose of the general population without being noticed. 

However, we have spotted the intruder and plan to alert all to his presence. Mark of the Ninja can be found on XBLA for 1200MSP. Use the cover of shadow to brilliantly execute your plan, and anyone who stands between you and your objective, my ninja. Klei Entertainment (creators of Shank, Shank 2) have taken care to craft a title that focuses on stealth as a priority, a rare feat for a ninja-centric title, which so often deal in hacking things to pieces.

Coupled with the infrequent premise of 2D stealth gameplay, Mark of the Ninja looks like a promising release. Worth the money? You'll have to wait to find that out. 

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron: Fanboy Heaven

Written by John Rios

Admittely, I'm a Transformers geek of Unicronian proportions. I have a collection of Transformers from the 80’s to the present day - both sealed and opened, an Autobots tattoo, and even had figures of Optimus Prime and Arcee in tux and dress atop my wedding cake when I tied the knot. So as you can imagine, being tasked to review this game without bias is a huge undertaking, but here we go..

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Allow Sir Hammerlock to Show You Around Borderlands 2

Are you yet unfamiliar with what to expect in Borderlands 2? Well allow Sir Hammerlock to be your tour guide, taking you through much of the Borderlands with the most extensive, all encompassing trailer to date.

Touched upon are the character classes, skills, utility, and of course the bazillion different weapon and grenade combinations. Looks like much to appreciate and little to hate, with a bazillion things to do, see, kill, create, and loot; everything I look for in a mate. At first I was like "." Now I'm all like "!" Borderlands 2 is looking like a pretty motha and I'm feeling MILFish, feel me? 

While you're waiting, you know wubwub is still hot, right? Borderlands 2 releases on September 18. 

Torchlight 2: Are You Glad You Didn't Diablo?

I've played about 30 minutes total of the first Torchlight game. It wasn't bad. Before that, I spent months playing Diablo and Diablo II. Good times. Through Diablo III's development cycle, I felt a little underwhelmed and worried about the type of end product we would get. After entry to the Diablo III beta, I was quite reassuredly disappointed. It wasn't bad, but it should have been amazing. It's like Half-Life 3 being a rip-off of Halo 3. Yeah, like that. So I didn't buy Diablo III, and not once since it's been in circulation have I regret that decision. 

So Torchlight wasn't bad, and Torchlight 2 looks to continue that tradition by looking pretty rad. Yes, it is essentially Diablo, but look at that madness on screen? Coupled with the series' original style and art, this here is looking a fresher than the old "stay a while and listen" bit. So what of it readers, are you torching Torchlight 2, casting Diablo to hell's depths, or playing both?