Game Genre: Action

For all of its gifts to gaming, it's a shame James Cameron's Aliens has never birthed a great videogame. There have been a few earnest attempts, most involving Predator(s), but Aliens aches for a defining moment - something akin GoldenEye 007 or Escape from Butcher Bay - to understand its influence and realize its potential. Aliens: Colonial Marines, in some phase of development for over five years at Gearbox Software and a handful of other studios, desperately wants to be that game. Billed as a canonical follow-up to Aliens, it seeks to engulf the player in sights and sounds from the 1986 classic. Colonial Marines sure looks and sounds the part, but only by playing its part could it break the cycle of pedestrian Aliens games.

The third game in a series is always the toughest planet to crack. If the sequel addressed mistakes and refined ideas of a first entry, and it if was successful, where does that leave the inevitable follow-up? The newly perfected formula won't work twice, and if its elements are altered too drastically it's likely to explode and make a mess. Visceral Games' solution to this volatile problem was to augment, rather than alter, the nature of Dead Space. An emphasis on weapon creation and cooperative play, both firsts for the series, seemed welcome - as long as surviving Dead Space's beloved horror was still in focus.

Earth Defense Force 2017 defied conventional wisdom. When it was debuted as a $40 Xbox 360 title in 2007 it looked like a game released in 1999, played as if wasn't properly tested, and pretended online multiplayer didn't exist. A cursory glance revealed traditional budget-priced title willingly accepting its condemnation to bargain bins everywhere. Here's the thing; in spite of itself and everything else Earth Defense Force 2017 is actually really fun to play. The development team at Sandlot, perhaps by accident, created a legitimate cult classic. Five years later and it's the PlayStation Vita's first release of 2013 as Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable.

There isn't anything inherently wrong with disposability. Taco Bell is disposable. Greeting cards are disposable. Paul Walker's entire career is disposable. All of these things can be enjoyed for small moment in time before being inevitably forgotten. When it comes to videogames if you pay sixty bucks for a game it sure as hell shouldn't be disposable, but if you drop the barrier of entry below ten dollars, the possibility of being used and discarded becomes easier to manage. This is where we are with Labyrinth Legends, a top-down dungeon crawling romp that entertains and satisfies for a few fleeting hours.

  Too weird to live, too rare to die.

Response Time.

If mice could cry.

Mickey is called back to Cartoon Wasteland to help out with some issues the place is having. This time around he's got a new companion to help him literally paint the town (yes, I went there). Oswald the Rabbit is included in the adventure this time, and there's more old school/new school fun to be had with Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two.

It's not quite Disney World.

So why in the world would someone want to purchase the PC version of Assassin's Creed III as opposed to the console version? Let's find out.

A giant something anyway.

Some days it just doesn't pay to be in the middle of a fight. Other days, it's fun as hell.

You wanted more?  You got it.