Wei Shen has been through so much since the “Sleeping Dogs” main story ended. Wei has battled the undead in order to save his girlfriend in the Nightmare in North Point downloadable content (DLC) and has been in a major martial arts tournament in the Zodiac Tournament DLC but the player has never really seen Wei Shen take responsibility for his undercover exploits, until now.

In the latest DLC, The Year of the Snake, Shen’s bosses are very upset at all the property damage and casualties that were caused during his time working undercover and demote him to a regular officer. Here, Shen must follow orders, help citizens and even give out traffic tickets. While amusing to see Shen’s aggravation at being demoted, is the DLC worth the money and more importantly the time?

The Year of the Snake is the first of the DLC packs to actually promise to follow Wei Shen after the initial story, unlike Nightmare in North Point which could have easily taken place in the middle of the main story. This story begins before the Chinese New Year and Shen has been called to investigate some strange happenings going on around Hong Kong. Several bombings have been taking place and it is up to Shen to find out who is behind it and why, before the New Year.

The Year of the Snake contains roughly six missions along with new collectibles, trophies/achievements and weapons. For each mission accomplished, the clothes, weapons or vehicles that are unlocked may be used within the main story. As Wei Shen must settle down as a regular cop, so too must the player. You cannot simply beat down assailants as an officer, but you can tase them or beat them with a baton before arresting them. Moreover, if a riot starts Wei Shen can tear gas the entire crowd to gain back control. These weapons provide a new experience to an already great game.

Despite becoming an officer in Hong Kong and having the ability to tase criminals, there really is not much else to this DLC. Seeing Wei Shen punished for his handling of his undercover work was satisfying but that is all there is to it. As a final ending for the “Sleeping Dogs” main story, it is lacking but then again the main story’s ending was very anticlimactic as well, so you get what you pay for. There aren’t any twist ending or surprises, just Wei Shen dealing with being demoted.

Rating – 4/5: The Year of the Snake is a short but sweet DLC which provides a realistic consequence for Shen’s actions during the main story and gives the player a new angle to play from after tormenting Hong Kong as a gangster. This DLC is worth the money for the liberties one can take as a cop, however in the end, you will want to go back to being undercover because being a member of the Triad is still much more fun. The Year of the Snake is available for the PlayStation 3 ($6.99 USD), Xbox 360 (560 Microsoft Points) and Steam ($6.99 USD).

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Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix have done it. They have made a game that not only gives us a legitimate origin story of the Tomb Raider Lara Croft but have also given an intense action-packed thriller that makes us come back for more.

The game begins with twenty-one year old Lara Croft, just graduated from college and on a search for the island of Yamatai, which may or may not exist. Her college friend Sam, who is recording their journey for a reality show, the lead archaeologist, Whitman, who is funding the expedition, Roth, the Captain of the Endurance, an old friend of Lara’s father and a father figure to Lara, and the rest of the Endurance crew (Reyes, Alex, Jonah and Grim) all accompany her. Lara believes Yamatai is located in the Dragon’s Triangle near Japan, but the crew is uneasy because of the storms that surround that area. Roth believes in Lara’s instincts and the ship enters the Dragon’s Triangle. The Endurance becomes engulfed in the storm and sinks, leaving Lara and the crew of the Endurance stranded on an unknown island.

The game that follows is nothing short of intense, as Lara must not only survive on the island but also try to save her fellow shipmates and fight against enemies driven by an unknown force. All of this makes Lara realize that she must grow up fast if she is to save herself and protect the ones she loves.

From the start, “Tomb Raider” creates a very real survival atmosphere, sucking you into Lara’s emotions. Lara’s very first kill is traumatic for her and you feels her sorrow and fear. Voice actress Camilla Luddington brings a sensitive and raw side to Lara Croft that lends well to the new experience the character is going through.

Gameplay wise, “Tomb Raider” has third person combat mixed with quick time reaction (QTR) ques. During melee combat the QTR ques can be daunting to press perfectly each time, especially during a thrilling fight. Once mastered, however, they aren’t much of a bother. The QTR ques add extra adrenaline for you in life or death situations, such as Lara dangling from a cliff after thrashing through rapids. Lara’s deaths are ghastly to see but are intriguing nonetheless. The game designers wanted you to believe that this environment has no mercy and careless mistakes have consequences. If you jump at the wrong time, Lara will fall and be impaled through the neck by a sharpened tree branch. If you lose a fight with a wolf, it will rip your jugular out. If you do not guide Lara out of a rock slide fast enough, the rock will chop her in half and you will watch helplessly as her head explodes and blood spurts out.

At first, Lara only has the bow and arrow as a weapon. However, as the game progresses, she gains advanced weaponry and can upgrade her weapons through collecting salvage or raiding tombs. Lara’s skills can also be upgraded from defeating humans/animals and looting their bodies. However, the main focus of the game is not the actual raiding of tombs, as it was in Lara Croft’s past games. They are optional and not all that dangerous. The tombs serve as mini puzzles which, after solved, treasure is rewarded. The gameplay is focused squarely on survival through combat but also by traversing the island. Lara can rock climb, crawl through caves, zip line, and most obstacles are removed by burning them with any fire you can find.

When thinking back to the past games in the “Tomb Raider” franchise, it is astonishing to see how far the franchise has come. The improvements to the game mechanics such as running, jumping, and climbing are so vastly improved and are obviously much more natural. In previous games developed by Core Design, you would have to aim the camera angle in a specific way to accurately injure an enemy, which was a frustrating endeavor. As the games matured under the development of Crystal Dynamics, Lara’s movements became more weighted, more natural and nimbler.

Lara’s image, needless to say, is much less pornographic now than it was in her earlier games. By focusing on Lara’s mental state in her given situation, Crystal Dynamics has let the character carry the game rather than relying on body image. Overall, the “Tomb Raider” franchise recycled the old running, jumping, climbing, stealth and weapon animations so often that it is very refreshing to see new animations and ways to solve environmental puzzles. In Crystal Dynamics’ hands, Tomb Raider could reclaim the glory it once had when it premiered in 1996.

The score for “Tomb Raider” is brilliantly composed by Jason Graves. At times it is reminiscent of the game “Arkham City.” It gives Lara Croft the theme music that not only defines her as a video game icon but as a human character who feels fear and loss throughout her experience on the island.

The only negative aspects to “Tomb Raider” are the cut scenes, which are not lip synced well, and the multiplayer component. The multiplayer features the survivors verses the inhabitants of the island in several game modes such as team death match or free for all. Although entertaining, multiplayer was not needed for this game to boast replay value. The single player mode is more than enough to warrant more than one play through. But these are trivial complaints for what the gamer receives in this action packed, emotionally driven survival narrative.

Rating 5/5- Tomb Raider has not only earned but deserves a perfect score. From the visuals, musical score, explosions, enemies both animal and human, the loss and the nostalgia of raiding tombs, “Tomb Raider” has it all for either those new to the franchise or for long time fans. Not only have Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix redeemed an icon but they have crafted an origin story that gives the “Tomb Raider” franchise the credibility it had lost long ago.

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When one thinks of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft, one thinks of a voluptuous woman, with a long braid, holding pistols while climbing cliffs in short cut offs in a tiny tank top. In 1996 “Tomb Raider” was developed by Core Design, released by Edios Interactive and has since then changed developers and publishers. With ten games, two movies and a theme park ride under its belt, the franchise has gotten a little stale.

Developer Crystal Dynamics and Square Enix have teamed up to reboot the franchise in a way that will revitalize the “Tomb Raider” in a grittier, edgy new way: by making her human. The new Lara Croft adventure is a prequel that will take players back before Croft became a “kick-ass,” gun-toting adventurer; a young woman thrown into adventure who must fend for herself on a seemingly deserted island.

Along with this new take on “Tomb Raider,” Croft is younger and her body type design reflects this. It is no longer one that will be just gawked at; rather, her skills will be put on display. In the game videos Lara is seen hunting, falling from great heights, using stealth to evade enemies and surviving the elements of the island. The use of a bow and arrow is a welcomed addition as it reflects the best possible skill that Lara would need in surviving on an island. Using a gun would be too loud and give away her location to enemies. In addition, it would also scare away prey. The player would also be using a weapon not often seen in a third person adventure game. It will be interesting to see how the bow is incorporated into the gameplay as Lara acquires other weapons.

Another interesting aspect of this reboot is the inclusion of multiplayer. As a game that is heavily reliant on the single player story, it is curious that Crystal Dynamics would choose to include a multiplayer aspect to a game that did not need it in the first place. In an interview with IGN, the Creative Director of “Tomb Raider,” Noah Huges, stated that multiplayer is, “…important to establish Tomb Raider for the future […] that is part of what a reboot is about.” So far, the multiplayer will include a team vs. team mode and the bow will be available as a weapon of choice. What  is refreshing to see about the multiplayer mode is, that the third person point of view adds an extra challenge that the usual first person point of view does not create for the player. The character can also swing on ropes, climb on top of structures and hang from said structures, which means the player has more options for offense and defensive strategies.

The rebooted franchise sports two editions: regular edition ($59.99 USD) and “Survival Collector’s Edition” ($99.99 USD). The collector’s edition comes in an “endurance” tin from the game, has an eight inch figurine of Lara Croft with her bow and arrow weapon, iron on patches as well as access to a weapons pack in game. In addition for those who pre-ordered there is “Scavenger Hunt” that players can access online and play to win other in game items. The scavenger hunt integrates community elements and trivia questions by having players take photos of themselves with the answer to the trivia question for that particular week.

Gamers that buy from Amazon.com will get “The Final Hours Edition” which comes with “an exclusive Art Book, In-Game Skin for Lara  and a digital copy of Geoff Keighley’s, “The Final Hours of Tomb Raider” for the Kindle Fire.”

This exciting new twist on a fan favorite will be released on March 5, 2013.

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London, U.K. – Square Enix Ltd., the publisher of Square Enix interactive entertainment products and Barnstorm Games, announce on May 30, 2012 Mensa Academy, a new brain training game that will give players the ultimate grey matter workout. Mensa Academy will be available from July 27 2012 in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia and PAL regions for Nintendo Wii and 3DS, Windows PC platforms, Smartphones and in the near future for HD consoles, Android and iOS.

The game will be packed with a series of fun and stimulating mini-games and challenges, filled with questions endorsed by Mensa, the renowned global high IQ society

“Mensa Academy brings something unique to the brain training game market,” stated Roger Cheung, Head of Acquisitions, Square Enix Europe. “We have teamed up with Barnstorm Games to bring this title, developed in cooperation with Mensa, to market in the UK and PAL regions.

Mensa Academy is the most credible game of its kind to date from the definitive experts in the field of measuring and fostering intelligence. The power of the mind is fascinating, the real challenge is how to best maximise its potential. Mensa Academy tangibly tackles this in a user-friendly way, whilst providing hours of entertainment.”

“We are delighted to be partnering with Square Enix for the release of our Mensa Academy title in the UK and PAL regions,” stated Simon Jeffrey, CEO of Barnstorm Games. “It was important for us to produce a product that exudes the authority of the Mensa brand, whilst providing a vibrant and entertaining environment in which players can train, take the test and challenge their friends.”

Created in collaboration with Mensa, Mensa Academy offers players the ability to determine and improve their score in Play, Coach and Test modes. Play mode challenges players to take on 100+ replayable levels in five disciplines- Numeracy, Language, Logic, Memory, and Visual, packed with questions. For further training, players can use Coach mode to hone their abilities and assess their progress in key disciplines before taking their skills to the next level in taking the Test and discovering their Mensa Academy score; will all that brain training have paid off?

“It’s fantastic to be working with Barnstorm Games and Square Enix to bring Mensa Academy to the market. Said John Stevenage Chief Executive, British Mensa Ltd. Not only does the game encourage brain training and challenge the mind it is a great deal of fun for all age groups.”

For more information, visit Mensa Academy. Mensa Academy is developed by Silverball Studios and Barnstorm Games and published by Square Enix Europe.

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At a time when entries into the Final Fantasy series are leaving fans disappointed, frustrated, or just apathetic, now might be the time to look back to the series’ roots, to the games that were able to build a 20+ year empire of Japanese RPGs in the first place.

Everyone has their opinions about VII, VIII, and IX, and most gamers out there are familiar with them. However, I-VI are games that you might not have played in a long time, if ever. With recent re-releases for modern platforms, such as the Nintendo DS and the iPhone, it might be time to rediscover where this series came from, and what made it great in the first place.

Final Fantasy

The game that saved Square. ‘Final Fantasy’ was the last hope of a floundering Japanese software company who left it up to their producer, Sakaguchi Hironobu, to save them from bankruptcy. This is the game that did the trick and made Square a powerhouse of JRPGs.

This first entry into the series founded the video game concept of a vast world, protected by a group of rag-tag adventurers, with noticeable use of elements from Dungeons & Dragons. Final Fantasy’s main rival at the time, Dragon Quest, on the other hand, featured a single hero and a less intuitive user interface, which might have led to FF’s initial superior popularity. This title is currently available on the Wii Virtual Console and for iOS.

Final Fantasy II

The second title in the series was never originally released outside of Japan until 2002 for the Playstation and is now available on the Playstation Network and iOS. This one comes highly recommended for its unique leveling system, which is based on how often a certain trait is used–if you use a sword most, your sword skills will go up; if you take a lot of damage, your health goes up.

Sound familiar? The wildly popular RPG Skyrim uses a similar system, and it adds a certain amount of personal customization to the leveling of your character. Final Fantasy II has a great story and is the first game in the series to feature Chocobos and the recurring character, Cid.

Final Fantasy III

First released outside of Japan in 2006 on the Nintendo DS, the original Famicon version is available through the Wii Virtual Console, and a port of the DS version is available with improved graphics for iOS. These first three games all feel like an intentional improvement on their predecessors, with a focus on character customization and control.

FFIII introduces the Job System, allowing players to customize their team of four Onion Knights with 23 different jobs, allowing 279,841 different party configurations to play through the game with. FFIII is a sort of archetypical Final Fantasy game, a touchstone for what “is” Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy IV

A considerably modified and censored version known as Final Fantasy II was released for the SNES in North America in 1991, and various versions are now available for the Nintendo DS, the Wii Virtual Console, and the PSP. Final Fantasy IV is a dramatic tale with twists and turns, a few weird moments, superb music,  and a rotating, but memorable cast of characters with predetermined Jobs.

This is the first FF where story is more important than character customization, but the sense of exploration is maintained, as is the series’ notorious level of difficulty and level grinding, except in the American ‘EasyType’ version. In fact, this is the title that arguably pioneered story-driven RPGs on any console, so for fans of strong plots in games, this is a must-play.

Final Fantasy V

Customization makes an improved return in Final Fantasy V with the Job system, and the Active Time Battle system carries over from FFIV, with an additional visible gauge allowing players to see when their next opportunity for attack is coming up. In this sense, FFV is a good example of a Final Fantasy game taking the best elements of its predecessors and building on them.

Only in November of last year did FFV become available on the Playstation Network in North America, and there are no other current generation systems  for which this title is available, unfortunately. The favorite game of series creator Sakaguchi Hironobu until FFIX, this is a rare gem worth playing if you can get your hands on it.

Final Fantasy VI

The grand poobah of retro Final Fantasy games and considered one of the best video games of all time, this game was originally known as Final Fantasy III in North America. Final Fantasy VI is in some ways a proto-Final Fantasy VII, in that players can swap out characters from a large cast to form a party and equip “magicite” and “relics” to teach and customize abilities, similar to materia in VII.

This game is also the origin of Biggs and Wedge (who, similar to FFVII, die early on), a Limit Break system of sorts, Ultima Weapons, and others. FFVI was just released on the Playstation Network in North America in December 2011, and on the Wii Virtual Console in June 2011.

Judging from these old games, it seems that it was only recently that Square forgot how to use all the best elements of previous FF games to make a new one. I-VI paved the way for the series’ popularity. Yet, in recent entries to the main series, the keystones that made these games great seem to be all, but absent.

The next Final Fantasy should respect its roots beyond just sticking a Chocobo in one of the characters’ hair. Free exploration of a huge world map, fully customizable characters, a deep and gripping plot, and  bits of the best gameplay elements from each game–that’s what the next FF should look like if Squeenix wants to put its main series back on track.

Hopefully, the awesome Final Fantasy Type-0 for PSP will get a release outside of Japan, and the next console entry will look something like it as well.

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Dungeon Siege III has plenty of secrets, some of which haven’t been discovered and listed. Whether it’s a secret treasure room, a cool new weapon, or a new character ability, there are plenty of options for gamers to get their fill of the dungeon crawling style of Dungeon Siege III.

Check your surroundings at all times, there may be secrets hidden in the walls. Either by touch or by destruction, there are certain rooms that can be found throughout the game that are not visible on the map. Some rooms will require in-game tasks that are naturally found in the environment to access as well.

TIP: Inside Gunderic Manor in an office, there is a hidden treasure room. The same can be said for the Gunderic Mausoleum, in which there is a bricked up archway in the first room you enter after the first causeway opens. That doorway can be destroyed to access that secret room.

Train and save money for long enough and something odd will become apparent to you. When visiting the shops the first time after a level up, better weapons will be available that are expensive but worth buying if the money is available. If you leave that town with that shop, those special items are replaced by more generic attribute items.

TIP:  Saving money will be a problem in a game that always has a new item to buy at every turn. Save up enough though, and just after leveling up reveals exciting and often very advantageous weapons and armor purchases.

Using the defensive blocking ability all the time might seem like the way to go when you’re swarmed by enemies, but there are moments when you can get flanked and then flayed alive. Don’t just stand there and get attacked hoping that you won’t get hit. More often than not, you will.

TIP:  Blocking should be carefully learned and then implemented into combinations because both Reinhart and Anjali have the limited ability to phase out of existence and appear in the desired direction. This will seem much flashier in comparison to Katarina and Lucas, who just roll like normal.

Learning the area affect spells of each character can be a great addition to your set of combo’s. Each ability can stack one on top of the other especially during a fight with many swarming opponents.

TIP: Chaining together a combo of a summoned creature, plus a distance attack and then a melee attack as well as an area affect spell one right after is a terrific combination to keep you alive. Just be aware of the health meter.

Upgrading your characters’ proficiencies and talents can easily lead to mistakes. In each of the proficiencies there are two separate sections to upgrade within that ability so you must choose one or the other since you won’t be able to choose both.

TIP: Be very selective and tactical in your approach to selecting proficiencies, you’ll only get a chance to upgrade one aspect of the two in the proficiency bar. Choose Proficiencies that allow for health to return when characters are attacked. Also, Reinhart’s Lightning Strike and Katarina’s rifle can be upgraded for a higher chance to ricochet off the first target and hit a second target. This saves focus points that you can use for the next unlucky target.

Katarina might seem weak at first but her dual wielding guns are a huge boon if you take the time to train and upgrade her weapons. Third person shooting fans looking for a fun time will enjoy this little slice of heaven stuck inside an action RPG. For even more Tomb Raider-type fun, play as Katarina and dual wield your pistol and shotgun. Just make sure you don’t get overwhelmed by an entire horde of enemies. Her armor won’t hold up.

TIP: Ever seen the movie Equilibrium with Christian Bale? Did you love the concept of a ‘Gun Kata’ or martial arts shooting form? Then don’t ignore Katarina’s power sphere abilities when she uses her shotgun and pistol. She’ll dual wield like out of a movie, arms spread, shooting 360 degrees to eliminate her foes.

Additionally, RPG fans who are interested in item collection and intense training sessions will realize that when you save, your health returns to 100%. This doesn’t work for focus points, but hit points do fill up again. When going to the save points, it’s not entirely necessary, though always suggested to save just as a precaution.

The action aspect of this Role-Playing Game means that you won’t be able to set your characters with a certain auto-set of attacks and healing that you would normally be able to do such as in the Final Fantasy series. Here you’ll have to be alive and paying attention rather than zoning out with a slightly glazed look on your face.

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Training is an inherent part of Dungeon Siege III, like many role-playing games. As you journey across Ehb there will be forests that reveal a host of monsters that yield experience points as you search for treasure and weapons. It will give you a good sense of the character’s abilities as well as their shortcomings.

Traditionally, as with most RPG’s, these shortcomings make the characters well balanced across the board but in a few instances, a Dungeon Siege III character can become awkward to use in combat.

Make no mistake, this is not at all like Assassin’s Creed where the character is immediately remarkable after 30 minutes of play through. Training is a requirement and will only serve to enhance character appeal. Time spent training early on can yield very nice abilities to play with, depending on character choice and playing style.

Unfortunately, for sheer excitement during combat, the female characters seem to have gotten more of the fun abilities while the men are left to languish with somewhat generic physical combat maneuvers. In a game where training is not only suggested but required, exciting combat is a huge plus for gamers. The built in weaknesses of each of the four heroes succeeds in making the player choose the one closest to their playing style.

Your long range shooter won’t have much armor initially, while your swordsman won’t have any distance attacks at all. Several of the power sphere attacks are just bigger versions of the characters’ standard magic or physical attack. The power sphere meter fills as you attack and another new sphere appears every few level ups. These special attacks might have greater range and damage but the visual affects aren’t always going to wow you at every moment.

There are a few, however, that players will never get tired of using because of sheer cool factor. This isn’t a bad thing since a screen can get bombarded with multiple onscreen spells triggering at once, but does reduce some of the variety in an already exceptionally focused game.

Katarina, the Ranged Shooter of Dungeon Siege III, is the illegitimate daughter of the former Grand Master of the Legion. As a Lescanzi witch, she’ll have a greater degree of magic power later in the game and her initial benefits will be long and short range combat. She will have the power of a long range rifle, but this requires some strategic thinking since the rifle doesn’t work as well as it could up close, so upgrading your pistol and shotgun is suggested.

Charging straight into the fray will only result in a quick death when you get overwhelmed. Unlike his half sister Katarina, Lucas Montbarron can survive using only his two-handed greatsword. In the truest sense of the word, Lucas is a classic swordsman through and through. He’ll have a set of rush attacks as well as some minor degree of magical power. Much of the time, your sword and shield combination won’t do you much good at all, especially when fighting against large groups.

Trade defense for offense and stick to the larger two handed sword. His weapon can still be used as a shield but his major weakness is that he has no ranged attacks at all. This makes certain aspects of the game, such as boss combat, somewhat more difficult. Reinhart Manx is a descendant of a Grand Mage Manx, who is both a Mage and scholar.

He will easily be the strongest characters available early on in the game. This is fine, except that when using his magic attacks, there’s a huge empty buffer zone between the player and the magic attack. Distance magic attacks will cover one area, and then once enemies get close, switching to melee attacks to hold back the enemy hordes.

It’s an annoyance to switch in between the two modes in an otherwise strong character. His melee attacks are strong as well, but not very exciting to watch. Anjali, easily the most fun and versatile character in the entire game, is a joy to play. Not of this earth in the traditional sense, she is an Archon that has a floating fire elemental form that’s both gorgeous and deadly. Her ability to throw fireballs at a distance is only matched by her ability to burn the enemies that surround her while she attacks.

In human form, she wields a fire element spear that is lethal at close range. You’ll probably stick to the fire elemental form for the most part, but the human form has its own appeal from many angles. Something that is nice about the game is that you’ll have multiple save slots. When you want to save, find a save point and do so; there are plenty in the game. This makes playing through the game as all four characters much easier versus having one save slot only, losing all your past saves every time you want to start a new character.

Many of the boss monsters in the game will chase you and, at least early in the game, there will be a set of trees or a formation of rocks that stops the monsters from chewing you up. Running around in a circle might not be the most fun strategy, but it’s often the most useful. Stopping to turn around and attack can then be thrown into the mix, and there are certain creatures you’ll be able to catch up to by running up behind them and attacking.

When facing boss creatures, having a companion with you will make your life much easier. Hopefully, you’ll spend some time upgrading the companion character so that they can help you when you’re stuck. At the very least, the companion character can help revive you, assuming that they don’t die right after you!

Gaining influence with your companion character will yield small attribute bonuses to your primary character, though they aren’t as noticeable at first. Each companion character will offer a bonus boost that varies by companion character but is generally a +5 bonus in those areas.

With many players getting Anjali as a companion character, it is likely that a +5 attack bonus is in the works for a lot of players. This is a nice extra thrown in for those players who do take the time to painstakingly answer the conversation questions correctly. It will not however, replace training and weapons attributes as a valuable source of raising the level of the primary character.

The heroes of Dungeon Siege as a whole, seem to be balanced in their abilities with one or two minor exceptions. The characters are different enough for multiple playing styles, but the voice acting and script leave much to be desired. The characters and the action aspect of this role-playing game make for a more active, if slightly repetitive playing style.

Multiple button presses allow for players to chain together a dizzying mix of physical and magical attacks that can light up the entire screen with multiple colors all at once. To learn the true nuances of the game see part 3 for our review of Dungeon Siege III Tips and Tricks. Exceptionally focused, a tad restrained and slightly bland with voice acting, Dungeon Siege III has the potential to be many hours of fun if gamers will stick to this series.

Players looking for a decently plotted, training oriented item collecting action RPG need look no further. Despite boring item titles, odd character design and lack of several visual necessities, Dungeon Siege III plays well enough with most characters and is traditional enough of a sample as an RPG before gamers transition to the full scale entree course of larger more modern scale RPG’s.

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The Square Enix Group, an integrated entertainment group, announces its first game title developed with Native Client, an open-source technology for running native compiled code in the browser. Launching with Native Client was made possible by the close work between the Square Enix Group and Google, who share a similar vision for bringing immersive applications to the web within the browser.

Yoichi Wada, chief executive officer of Square Enix Holdings, presented the group’s first title, Mini Ninjas, at a Native Client event held at Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California to showcase the Square Enix Group’s commitment to industry-leading innovation in the browser.

“Gaming in the browser greatly expands the video game market to new consumers, devices and platforms,” commented Mr. Wada. “Native Client enables the same consumer experience in the browser as in a native application. With the power of this technology, Square Enix is pushing the boundaries of the browser gaming market to include high quality games in addition to our popular portfolio of casual games.”

“We’re excited to see developers such as Square Enix bring their rich, immersive content to the web with Native Client,” said Ian Ellison-Taylor, Director of Web Platform at Google. “Online games are a great showcase for the power of the open-source Native Client technology as it enables demanding applications such as console-quality games to run seamlessly and securely inside the browser.”

The first title to be launched, Mini Ninjas will be entering an open beta in December without download or installation of game software, bringing high definition, console-quality gaming to the Chrome Web Store. Mini Ninjas charts the journey of Hiro, the world’s smallest hero on his biggest quest, as he embarks on an epic quest to restore harmony to a world on the brink of chaos.

Guests invited to the Google launch event are able to play a demo of Mini Ninjas for Chrome. Additional titles from Square Enix’s group-wide lineup are planned to be made available in the browser within the next year. In order to play the Mini Ninjas open beta, you will need an upcoming beta version of Chrome (Chrome 17), which will be available in the coming weeks.

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With the continued promotion of Final Fantasy XIII-2 (FFXIII-2) and the eventual launch at the end of January 2012, fans are wondering if this game will be any different than past iterations of Final Fantasy. Known for stunning graphics and unconventional storytelling, Square-Enix needs Final Fantasy XIII-2 to do really well on the American market or risk losing veteran fans completely.

Fans lament the disappointing venture of the last two Final Fantasy games to hit American consoles, Final Fantasy XII and Final Fantasy XIII respectively. A great deal of hype was amassed for the launch of both titles, with similar fan expectations of another epic 3 disc adventure. While both games were fairly lengthy, the feel of the games hadn’t changed very much from the last decade beforehand.

Final Fantasy XIII had the unfortunate habit of pushing you forward and nowhere else. One of the best elements for RPG fans is to earn their items, to build a newer better weapon or to find that extra sword in a town with cave full of monsters nearby. What Square-Enix had removed was the human role of the Role Playing Game and substituted it with purely cinematic cut scenes and character back story.

This isn’t entirely a bad thing but in a series as renowned as Final Fantasy, it stops the player from engaging their character, and from stepping into that character’s mighty and loveable shoes. What you were left with is a sympathetic character being played on a screen in a living room.

Early footage courtesy of Square-Enix does reveal some good changes to the game, most likely owing to fan complaints. Players from FFXIII were notoriously known for telling their friends to still support the game, saying that it would get better as they played when it was more likely that players just played for the sake of playing.

Many veteran fans remarked that previous generation console Final Fantasy games were great and engaging from the very onset of the game and required no break in time at all. This has been a primary concern for fans of the newest game and it is a strong argument against the Square-Enix series.

The general feel of the graphics is expected to be quite cinematic as usual, with a healthy helping of bright colors and fantastic shading. Whatever players may gripe about with each new game, Final Fantasy is sure to deliver on the eye candy. The visuals are something that SquareSoft and now Square-Enix do very well, with stunning textures and fantastical creatures that are out of this world but still familiar to fans. Ifrit by any other name would still be red, have two horns, claws and an affinity for fireballs.

Long time fans that have played any number of Final Fantasy games will recognize the Active Time battle system and the Paradigm Shift system, which is both a blessing and a curse. The issue stems from the repetitive game play that emerges at the onset of the game, leading to eventual stagnant button pressing that isn’t even close to interactive.

The feel of the combat system has changed very little from years past since veteran players have already been using character roles for support, fighter and healer on their own long before the labeling of the Paradigm Shift System. Giving it a title and streamlining the process for XIII helped, but it didn’t seem to be enough for veteran fans last time around. Will it be enough this time?

The game design doesn’t seem to have evolved a lot, which is also a mixed blessing.  Both characters and environments designed so far look to be classical Square-Enix fare with what is most likely linear storyline and wide training fields. The back-story for the cast of characters will be familiar to players from the first title with the hunt for Lightening being the focus that drives the game forward.

Hopefully, unlike another Final Fantasy game with a dash two at the end of the title (Final Fantasy X-2), these characters haven’t gone downhill. One of the newest playable elements is the use of a time travel component to change up the game, which if done well can elevate the game play.

Players from Final Fantasy VII (Cloud) and VIII (Laguna Loire) will find this feature reminiscent of those games, using playable flashback scenes to open up the storyline  further. History is apparently a major corner stone of this Final Fantasy game and fans will hopefully praise rather than curse this new gameplay facet.

Thus far trailers have revealed larger maps that aren’t linear and a combat system that is familiar, but, hopefully, will be different enough for players. The characters are vibrant, relatable and accompanied by stunning visuals that should at least continue the series decently.

Despite the ‘classic’ feel of the game with the addition of the new Time Travel feature, XIII-2 needs to have a good balance of high and low moments with slow and fast pace changes, otherwise the game will be another vapid freight train on a collision course with the end of the story.

The straight and narrow is not a fun line to walk. It’s more engaging to step off that line and than to find your way back later in the game, which Square-Enix hopefully will not ignore this time with XIII-2.

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