Do you love free Games?

Free anything usually gets my attention, but free games demand it.  As of yesterday on the Xbox Live Arcade two new games became available for download for free.  They are presented by Doritos’s Snack Strong Productions and I believe they are contest winners as well.  They are Harms Way and Crash Course.

 

Harms Way = Budget Destruction Racing

Crash Course, MXC meets Ninja Warrior meets American Gladiators

Harms Way is a destruction racing title that is an homage to Motor Storm, Split Second, and a little Twisted Metal thrown in there.  With single player races, a campaign, and Xbox Live support this is a title that has a lot of potential for its first entry.  The title also has Achievement support.  What I have played of Harms Way I have enjoyed.  The game has solid graphics, controls, and mechanics that could definitely warrant a sequel in the future.  If you are a casual or hardcore fan of alternative racing games I recommend checking this title out.

Now onto Crash Course.  This game is a blast to play.  I was a bit apprehensive at first because I have played several bad Indie games with Avatars as your characters, but when I stepped into Crash Course for the first time I knew that this game was going to be enjoyable.  Crash Course is a platformer where you must navigate obstacle courses in a preset time in order to be awarded a medal.  The courses are fun and challenging simultaneously.  This title reminds me a lot of shows like MXC, Ninja Warrior, and American Gladiators.  Another comparison I would like to make is to Trials HD, but you are on your feet rather than on a motorcycle.  The game also supports online leaderboards, local multiplayer, Xbox Live multiplayer, and achievements.  If you enjoy platformers, check this game out, you won’t be disappointed.

Both of these titles are now available on the Xbox Live Arcade and are FREE.  So check them out and for some reason you don’t enjoy them as much as I did, guess what?  You didn’t pay for them.

Game of the Year Honors 2010 [Preview]

Its that time of the year where games that shined above the rest get recognized for their accomplishments.  This is my largest project to date and with the help of some contributing writers it will come to life in a few short weeks.  As this is just a preview I will outline some of the awards that will be bestowed upon some great titles.

• Overall Game of the Year
• Best Action Game
• Best Adventure Game
• Best FPS Game
• Best Third Person Shooter Game
• Best Sports Game
• Best Racing Game
• Best Puzzle Game
• Best 2D Platformer Game
• Best 3D Platformer Game
• Best Survival Horror Game
• Best Fighting Game
• Best Music Game
• Best Graphics in a Game
• Best Story in a Game
• Best XBLA/PSN Game
• Best DLC for a Game
• Best Xbox 360 Game
• Best PS3 Game
• Best Wii Game
• Best DS game
• Best PSP game
• Worst Game of the Year
• Biggest Disappointment of the Year
• Best Game you haven’t heard of

If we decide to add anything else to this already robust list of honors I will update this article.  If you have any comments or suggestions for this year’s awards feel free to tell us what you think.  I will be starting the celebration soon so stay tuned for more.

Medal of Honor multiplayer: Where is the love?

When EA rebooted their beloved FPS franchise Medal of Honor back in late October I was excited to see what they had to bring to the table.  With a bevy of other shooters on the market and launching two weeks before the new Call of Duty I believed that it could hold its own.  When it finally launched it was met with mixed criticism, but also commercial success.  I hadn’t had much time to dedicate to Medal of Honor when it came out, but I have been playing it pretty steadily for the past couple of weeks and I must say that it is a solid title.  The single player remains mostly a mystery to me, but the multiplayer is very addictive and rewarding experience.  The options for multiplayer are not as vast as some other FPS offerings, but what is present is fun and worthy of your time.  The customization is not very deep, but that isn’t my main grievance with Medal of Honor’s multiplayer.  There is an underwhelming amount of people playing it.  This game sold a reported 2 million copies and there is 0.15% (3000 players) of the population of owners actually partaking in the game’s multiplayer component.  I haven’t seen a major title like this garner this less of a following since the days of Delta Force: Black Hawk Down on the original Xbox.

Where is the love?

What did people do with their games?  Did they trade them in, are they collecting dust on a shelf, or are they using them as a really expensive coaster?  These aforementioned options are plausible, but if I had to take a stab at it I would say they are probably playing Call of Duty.  I am not going to sit here and knock Call of Duty because I too enjoy it, but it is a disease that has infected the gaming industry.  It is like getting your yearly flu shot, people are afraid to go without it because something else might happen.  In this case people abandoned an enjoyable multiplayer experience because Call of Duty is being rammed down their throat.  Developers and publishers alike push their games back into spring because they actually want people to buy them.  I applaud EA for taking a chance with Medal of Honor.  The game is not perfect, but they have something solid to build on that could potentially change public opinion.  If you have an opinion about EA’s new title comment on it, I would like to hear what you think.