Xbox 360
Review & Contest: Polar Panic for XBLA
Polar Panic is a relatively new puzzle game for both the Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA), and the PlayStation Network (PSN), where you push blocks around to kill enemies and solve puzzles. It's a simple concept, but scales in complexity when you add more block types and different enemies to the mix. How well does it accomplish all this? Read on for the review, and we'll give away an XBLA code to one lucky reader!
Thirty years ago the game Sokoban was created, and made players push blocks around a restricted room to activate buttons and move onto the next level. Polar Panic revives this old game mechanic, but adds some new twists.
You play as a polar bear who is trying to defeat an evil oil man named Mr. Big, but to do so means fighting your way through various levels. You'll have to fight against guys who club you to death, those who can shoot guns at you, and even some fire and ice enemies. It provides enough variety, and becomes challenging as you progress.
The main goal of each level is to kill all the enemies on the screen, however extra points can be earned for secondary objectives, which usually require pushing blocks onto specific squares. Unfortunately, even as a polar bear, there is no way to attack the enemies directly, you must use a block of ice or explosive. Making the main character a small bear, or perhaps a seal or penguin might have made sense for this restriction, but I guess polar bears were just too perfect to pass up.
Besides the main story, there are also puzzle levels, which are closer to the Sokoban game type. There are different pressure pad types, some that require constant pressure from a block sitting on it, others which you only have to step on to activate. These puzzles give the game several more hours of playtime, which is good considering the $10 price. The main story will take a few hours to complete, so it's not a bad deal at $10, but it's definitely worth thinking about.
Multiplayer is only available when playing on the same console, and there are only a few different game types, with minimal differences between them. You fight to survive through several rounds of enemies, competing in either score, kills, or in a "last bear standing" mode where the first one to die 4 times loses. You can choose from all the same type of environments you have in the single player game, but they are modified for Survival mode.
The achievements strike a good balance of ease and challenge, with your basic story-completion achievements mixed with some simple gameplay-based achievements. Beating all 50 challenge puzzles will take some time, but there are probably walkthroughs being made as I type.
Overall, the game provides a lot of family-friendly fun, that's even a challenge for the more "hardcore" gamer. The graphics and sound are well done, and you'll probably find more to like about this game than not. Neither the Single or Multiplayer modes will keep the average player busy for more than a dozen hours, but those dozen hours will be reasonably entertaining.
Contest
Want to win an XBLA code for Polar Panic? Just leave a comment on this story with your favorite winter activity. Whether it be pushing ice blocks, crushing snow, or stepping on pressure blocks, there is a lot to do in the winter months. Tell us your favorite thing, and you'll be entered to win!
Entries must be received by noon CST on January 27th. Limit one entry per person. Winner must be able to redeem a North-American XBLA code. Winner must not have won a product from Realm Media Networks in the past 90 days. Polar Panic was provided to Realm Media Networks free of charge. Single Player campaign was completed, along with multiple hours playing challenge levels and multiplayer modes.
Borderlands Launches in Plano with developers
GameStops around the country stayed open until after midnight last night to welcome the arrival of a the new game, Borderlands. Two GameStops out of the thousands around the country, though, had something a little extra. One of the GameStops in Plano, Texas, had over a dozen employees from the Plano-based developer. They were there to meet the fans, and autograph anything people wanted.
The night started around 9, when the management ordered pizza, and opened up some copies of Borderlands to put in demo stations. There were four-player setups in both Xbox 360 and PS3 flavors, along with a couple single player stations setup. Throughout the night, gamers would share the play time and watch each other.
Around 10 pm, a few Gearbox employees began to trickle in, with the crowd growing over the next hour or so. All in all, about 15 employees showed up, mostly developers, who immediately jumped into interacting with everyone. They answered questions about their involvment in the game, and signed game covers, manuals, guides, posters, t-shirts, and anything else the fans could offer up. They played down their own celebrity status, but seemed to enjoy themselves.
At some point during the night, a small man dressed as the iconic cover art character began making the rounds, getting his picture taken, and posing for the fans. We were told the costume creator was also responsible for the Barney costume, but it's hard to tell which is more scarey.
At 5 to midnight, everyone who had purchased the game lined up to receive their discs, completing their own personal Collector's Edition. Less than 100 copies of the game were sold, so everyone in attendance definitely has a little piece of history spinning in their console.
Next month's launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will definitely eclipse the night in numbers, with about 450 pre-orders at this single location already. Borderlands can only launch once though, and for a lot of people, it will be a night they will never forget.
For more pictures, visit our Borderlands Launch gallery.
Review & Contest: Darkest of Days for Xbox 360
We're trying something new here at Realm Media Networks, video reviews! These aren't going to be real high production values, but they will let you hear what we think about the games we play. Our first video review is for Darkest of Days, a recent release for the Xbox 360. Take a look at part 1 and 2 of the review, and then leave an appropriate comment to be entered to win! You'll have to watch the video to know what kind of comment to leave, but be sure to tell us what you think of the videos as well.
All comments must be made by Noon on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 to be eligible for the contest.
Other links:
Buy Darkest of Days at Amazon.com
Review & Contest: Exo-flex skins
We received some Exo-Flex skins in the mail, and have spent the last month with some of them on our devices. Now that we've had some real hands-on time with them, it's time to give them a short review, and give them away!
It's hard to review what is basically a big sticker. They all looked nice when they arrived, and seemed like they would hold up well. Let's go through each of the claims they make for their skins, and see how well they do.
[Update: Congrats to our winners: jen, Spike116, Icreatedyou, and gbaker386 Hope you enjoy the skins!]
1. NO Smearing or Fading
By smearing, I believe this refers to the printing on the sticker itself. I used the DS Lite skin they sent for quite a while, and never noticed any deterioration it the quality of the printing. It also didn't seem to fade, but I didn't leave it out in the sun for long periods trying to fade it.
Verdict: TRUE
Review & Contest: The Beatles: Rock Band
It's been a while since the last major entry in the Rock Band series has been made, with only track packs to hold us over in the mean time. Most of those have been pretty well received, but those are not really any more than a collections of songs that can be downloaded one by one off the Rock Band music store. Rock Band: The Beatles is a distinct departure from the Track Pack idea, with an entire game based around a single band. The Guitar Hero franchise has done similar type games for Metallica and Aerosmith, but some may argue that The Beatles have a much broader appeal, and are more well known. Will Harmonix do them the justice they deserve, or fall just short of the mark? Read on for our review.
[Update: Congrats to our winner, Kaza2929! Hope you enjoy the game! Look for more contests coming soon! ]
Review & Contest: Rock Band Country Track Pack
It's been almost two months since our last Rock Band Track Pack Review, so its time for another! If you remember our AC/DC LIVE Track Pack Review from last year, or the Classic Rock Track Pack review from just a couple months ago, you'll probably have a pretty good idea of how this review is going to go. But there are a few differences, could those make this Track Pack any different? You'll have to read the rest of the review to find out, and of course, enter our contest to win the game!
[Update: Well, not one single person left a comment before the deadline, so we'll just hold onto the game and give it away at a later date.]
Early Impressions: 1 vs. 100 Beta on Xbox Live Primetime
The TV Quiz show is one of the longest running "reality programs" in existence, modified and retooled throughout the years into various formats. One of the latest incarnations is 1 vs. 100, where one person (The One) competes against a group of 100 (The Mob) in answering multiple choice questions. As long as The One answers questions correctly, they earn money for each person in The Mob that misses the question. If The One misses a question, everyone left in The Mob divides up the prize money, and The One goes home with nothing. A new incarnation of this game has come to Xbox Live Primetime, and promises to be popular with game show addicts. Read on for our review of the first Beta night.
