XBox 360 Archive

Dark Delve: A New Grid-Based Dungeon Crawler RPG

By
Lawrence
 – October 2, 2011Posted in: Role Playing Games, RPG Reviews
Dark Delve

Dark Delve -- a new indie RPG from Checkmark Games

About a year ago, I posted an article to this blog lamenting the dearth of grid-based dungeon-crawlers. Well, Mark Harvey of Checkmark Games actually decided to do something about it. Basically a one-man development team, Harvey recently launched Dark Delve as an Xbox Live Indie Game. This game is exactly what I was pining for.

In the spirit of games like the original Bard’s Tale and Might & Magic series, Dark Delve finds you creating a party of four adventurers to explore a massive, grid-based dungeon. If, like me, you are over the age of thirty with fond memories of looting dungeons on an Apple IIc (or if you are a youngster with a taste for classic CRPGs), you owe it to yourself to at least download the free demo of this game. (The full version is a steal at 80 Microsoft Points / one U.S. dollar.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , ,

Fable 3 – Review

By
Lawrence
 – April 7, 2011Posted in: Role Playing Games, RPG Reviews
Fable 3 Throne

Fable 3 pretends to be RPG royalty, but is actually just the Fool.

Fable 3 streamlines the RPG to the point of absurdity, retaining almost all of the annoyances of its predecessors, and introducing a laughably broken kingdom management simulation.  But damn if Albion isn’t fun to explore.

Universal ammo in Mass Effect 2.  Linear paths in Final Fantasy XIII.  Streamlining the RPG may be all the rage these days, but when a developer feels the need to dumb-down the pause menu, you know you’re in for a rocky ride.  Enter Fable 3, the latest edition to Peter Molyneux’s action RPG franchise.

Apparently, Lionhead discovered that the reason more people don’t buy Fable games is that menus are too befuddling for your average Joe.  Mainstream gamers are confused by convoluted menu choices such as Map, Inventory, and Skills.   These concepts are so complex that they must be illuminated through the use of metaphor.  A virtual room with a map table, a wardrobe closet, and an armory.  A road lined with treasure chests, each of which contains a skill, and each of which can only be unlocked with experience points.

Wait … there’s skills … you unlock…. Hey, now I get it!  Thanks, Lionhead!

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , ,

Kinect and the RPG – Happy Together?

By
Lawrence
 – November 9, 2010Posted in: Role Playing Games, RPG Feature Stories
Mock-up of a Kinect RPG

Don't get excited -- this Kinect-controlled dungeon crawler does not exist ... yet.

Like many gamers, I spent a good part of the past few days playing with Kinect, Microsoft’s new motion control accessory for the Xbox 360.  What does this casual-friendly device have to do with a blog focused on role playing games (one of the least casual genres of video games)?

Hopefully, a lot.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , ,

ArcaniA: Gothic 4 – Review

By
Lawrence
 – October 31, 2010Posted in: Role Playing Games, RPG Reviews
ArcaniA: Gothic 4

ArcaniA: Gothic 4 -- Here you see the hero, fetching something.

ArcaniA?  More like Obviouso.

The best thing that can be said of ArcaniA: Gothic 4, the new RPG from developer Spellbound and publisher JoWooD, is that it makes a good first impression.  You are dropped into the prologue as an interesting character – a tortured king – in a unique setting – the cavernous tunnels of his own demon-infested mind.  You spend the first twenty minutes of the game learning the combat system, which is pretty good for an action RPG.  The blocking, rolling, and striking controls are responsive and permit for tactical and fun battles.  The graphics are crisp and detailed.  The monsters are frightening and move with lively and brutal grace.  The sounds of the cavern are subtle and ominous, a nice change from the rousing music that greets you at the title screen and menus.

But as soon as the prologue ends, so does the fun.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Fallout New Vegas DLC to be Xbox 360 Exclusive

By
Lawrence
 – October 18, 2010Posted in: Role Playing Games, RPG News
Fallout New Vegas

Fallout New Vegas's DLC will be Xbox-only, at least temporarily.

Bethesda announced today that downloadable content is already in the works for its eagerly awaited RPG, Fallout New Vegas (which releases in North America tomorrow for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3).  The DLC, which is planned for the holiday season, will be exclusive to the Xbox 360 version of the game.

Downloadable content, a staple of this generation, has sparked plenty of controversies, particularly in the RPG genre.  In fact, Bethesda was one of the pioneers in this area, offering perhaps the most reviled DLC of all time – Oblivion’s infamous horse armor.  BioWare antagonized Dragon Age fans earlier this year when it released the Wardens Keep DLC, which, in addition to a quest, provided a location in which players could store their loot.  Many fans complained that this DLC, without which the game requires frustrating inventory management, should have been included with the game.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , ,

Demon’s Souls Follow-Up Project Dark Announced for 2011

By
Lawrence
 – September 16, 2010Posted in: Role Playing Games, RPG News

Project Dark successor to Demon's Souls

Usually, the only Dark Project that would get me excited is Warren Spector’s masterpiece Thief.  However, I may have to make an exception in this case, given that this Project Dark is the follow-up to From Software’s brutal 2009 RPG Demon’s Souls.

Whether Project Dark is a role playing game is unclear at this point, but From Software’s history strongly suggests that it will be.  This is the Japanese studio responsible for Demon’s Souls and the King’s Field series.  My guess is that Project Dark will be an RPG.  And if it’s a successor to Demon’s Souls, it won’t be an easy one.

Originally announced for the Playstation 3 during Sony’s presentation at the Tokyo Game Show on September 15, 2010, it now appears that Project Dark will be available on both PS3 and XBox 360 in 2011.

Source: 1Up

Tags: , , , , , ,

Lair of the Shadow Broker: Thoughts on the latest Mass Effect 2 DLC

By
Lawrence
 – September 8, 2010Posted in: Role Playing Games, RPG Reviews
Lair of the Shadow Broker Mass Effect 2 Liara

Lair of the Shadow Broker brings Liara back to the fight -- temporarily, at least

I remember the days of expansion packs with pleasant nostalgia, so the concept of a self-contained mini-adventure downloaded straight into my game appeals to me – the chance to take my party out on one more quest from which I can triumphantly emerge with experience points and loot (and, on the Xbox 360, achievement points).  This ideal DLC isn’t exactly what Bioware delivers in Lair of the Shadow Broker.  For one thing, there’s minimal loot and only one level’s worth of XP.  But what the episode does deliver is pretty damn good.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, Lair of the Shadow Broker is the latest downloadable content pack for Mass Effect 2.  The plot involves helping former crew member (and, depending on your actions in the first Mass Effect, love interest) Liara T’Soni track down an evil power monger called the Shadow Broker and rescue some dude he kidnapped.  (I have not confirmed this, but I suspect the origin of this lore can be found in the Mass Effect comic books that came out around the same time as Mass Effect 2 and starred Liara as their central protagonist.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Five Reasons I Am Not Excited For Fable 3

By
Lawrence
 – August 4, 2010Posted in: Role Playing Games, RPG Feature Stories
A heroic moment in Fable 3

Fable 3 sure looks awesome....

Fable 3 is coming.  Peter Molyneux is on the campaign circuit.  The trailer is out.  The hype is huge. 

They say that those who don’t learn from history are bound to repeat it. Not me. I’ve been burned before. Twice. 

So before we start storming Gamestop to place our pre-orders, let’s review five reasons not to get our hopes up for Fable 3. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: , , , ,