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“Kill with skill,” advises Bulletstorm’s ad copy. That rhymes so it makes a nice tagline. “Kill as brutally and hideously as you possibly can within only the loosest confines of physics” doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily.

Bulletstorm is exactly what it wants to be: a zany, foulmouthed, crass, absurdly violent fiesta of carnage. And everything about it appears crafted to suit this. Polish developer People Can Fly, working with Epic, have brought their considerable talents for atmosphere, outlandishness, and gleefully gory over-the-topism to bear yet again in a game that really does kind of remind us that “mindless” is not only sometimes a good thing, it can actually be a personality trait.

As my second piece of news, also Steam related, SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd have today announced that Total War: Shogun 2, will be available on Steam on February 22.  The press release goes on to state: SEGA and The Creative Assembly are proud to let gamers everywhere know that a demo for Total War: Shogun 2 will soon be available on Steam. The demo will allow all armchair samurai to test their skills …

It wouldn’t be sensationalist to state that RIFT is the most polished and accomplished MMOG BETA I have ever taken part in.  And while not fault free, the single problem I did encounter (being unable to login due to queueing issues), was when servers first opened; a problem undoubtedly linked to the sheer quantity of people flooding on-line.  The rest of my evening however, was flawless.

It’s difficult to know where to even begin when covering World of Warcraft’s latest expansion set.  The game is already so vast as a result of its unprecedented success that to add further content becomes a daunting prospect for anyone wanting to jump in… (warning – may contain spoilers)

Returning to the industrial grime of Killzone 3’s Helghan home world after over 70 hours in the bright clear Middle Eastern maps of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is initially a disorienting experience.  Killzone 3, like its predecessor, is a game that at times has an almost suffocating atmosphere.  Heavy orange and blue lights punctuate the superbly textured warehouses and military facilities while snow and ash particles continually waft through the landscape…

I’ve always been a turtler. All that progress, pushing forward, actually doing stuff — it’s not for me. I’d rather just sit in my hardy shell, pipe and newspaper in hand, and hatch a plan; a plan to build more walls, a plan to build more towers, a plan to make my shell hardier. Yes, I’m a real-time strategy coward.

Steerpike is many things, my friends: roguishly handsome, devilishly charming, effortlessly-groomed, witty. One thing he is not is well-disciplined. So though I did stick to my guns and refuse to pre-order Fate of the World on Halloween, it is me you’re dealing with… I bought it a few days later. Now, I still have an issue with this game costing £19.99 for the full version (that’s about $40-$50, depending on the exchange rate). Vic Davis …

My first moments in F1-2010 were terrifying. Not the terror of being pursued by brainless zombies in the depths of the Agroprom, no, something much worse. The camera’s field of view swept over the group of assembled reporters with professional soft focus blur and a well dressed reporter stood to ask me a question. I was seated behind a microphone, and I was certain she was going to say, “Tell us about yourself, and why you think you can succeed in Formula-1?”

Not long ago the staff had a Serious Discussion (which lasted 3 minutes and consisted of “why not?”) about whether our First Impressions section should include demos… that is, whether we can state first impressions based on one. It didn’t occur to us to set up some kind of rule about how long the demo should be. After all, size doesn’t matter. What matters is enthusiasm.

Summer. It’s a beautiful time of year, isn’t it? Well, on the northern slice of the planet, I should say– sorry Aussies, et al. It’s a time to hear the laughter of children playing in the streets (well, not in the city; I hear drunkards in the streets, mostly), a time to visit beaches and canyons (must confess I haven’t done much of this either), and a time to sample summer beers at your local …

The original Mafia was a game I always wanted to love but never really did. As something of a fan of popular gangster culture in the film industry, I’ve always wanted 1930s gangland Chicago to translate well to video games. As far as the history of the criminal underworld goes, the era’s rather unique blend of quick talkin’, trilby wearin’, suited and booted, Tommy gun totin’ kingpins should really translate well to gaming. For one reason or another however, it never really has. Mafia wasn’t a bad game by any stretch of the imagination, but despite such a rich abundance of source material to pick up on, it was a game which in my opinion lacked an identity or a unique sell.

Despite mixed feelings on the original however, Mafia II has remained firmly on my radar for some time. Thanks to the pre-release demo launched on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and Steam yesterday, I’ve finally had an opportunity to get my hands on this long awaited sequel.

“Sounds like something you need to check out,” wrote my friend Ben Hoyt of 47Games. “Would love to hear your thoughts.” He was speaking of this.

Ben’s a good guy; a far better writer, and a much crueler – though undoubtedly more genuine – critic than I. Being a game-maker himself, he’s very hard on them. I’ve never known anyone more adept at dissection of game experiences. Ben also knows I like the occasional oddity, so whenever he stumbles across one he tells me about it.

Thus did I buy Deadly Premonition…

I swapped Ikaruga for Mario Kart: Double Dash!!. There. I said it. And here’s another thing: I had more fun with Double Dash!! than Ikaruga, despite the Treasure shoot ’em up being a thing of beauty. So what made me swap it? Because as much as I love an indiscriminately difficult game I wimped out. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t have the patience to learn the bullet patterns or have the perseverance to wield …

Based on yesterday’s flurry of bad press for Obsidian’s new Spy-PG, I’d decided to contradict myself (when I said I would buy regardless of reviews on account of Chris Avellone’s penmanship) and hold off on Alpha Protocol. After all, I still haven’t finished Final Fantasy XIII or Mass Effect 2 or Metro 2033 or Splinter Cell Conviction or Tropico 3, Dobry just loaned me Bioshock 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2 and sooner or later I’ll …

It’s not easy being a Mac owning gamer. For so long the deserved recipient of the industries jokes and PC gamers distain, gaming on Mac has always been something of an afterthought, falling some way down on Apple’s priorities both from a hardware and software perspective. With games software remaining overpriced, underpowered and largely unsupported, Mac gaming has existed as the proverbial wasteland for the mouse and keyboard loyalist. However, to quote the ever quotable …