Great news for Penny Arcade fans. Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness - Episode 2 is going to be available on Xbox Live this Wednesday. Coming in a little cheaper than last time, it will be available for 1200 MS points over Xbox Live and sees the story Gabe and Tycho continue. The big question will be whether or not it will be available in our region as the previous was not, which is a downright shame considering that it was well received in the regions that were lucky enough to get it. Can I blame Germany again? I love blaming Germany for everything.

The game puts you into the helmet of Sergeant Matt Baker as he not only commands his squads through Operation Market Garden but also deals with some mental issues of his own.To be honest the game seems to be a semi rip-off of the Band of Brothers TV series.... The beginning of the story plays out in a way that reminds me heavily of some of the elements used in the "Lost" TV show and then pulls you back a few days, so that you have to play back up to that point.... One of the cutscenes went on for quite a while and by the time I would usually start itching to skip, I found myself sitting back and watching as if it was a TV show. I was pleasantly surprised to also find that the game was significantly longer than I had originally though and actually had me thinking the game was about to end on a number of occasions, only to have the plot thicken and the next mission begin. The entire campaign should take you around 10 hours to complete, depending on how you approach the missions but a second play through is definitely not out of the question considering that you can approach missions differently.... When it comes to the gameplay visuals however, you will find that there will be times when the game looks fantastic and then 10 minutes later you will be running around in a really bland area.... Basically, it is a camera that zooms in and slows the action down to show off the games realistic gore system, which often has grenades blowing limbs off of soldiers, if not tearing them completely in half. This concerned me when I first saw the videos but was pleasantly surprised to see that it only happens rarely, keeping it fun and allowing you to appreciate it, rather than abusing it to give the game an unnecessary action feel.... This does change the game significantly and be warned, if you are one of those hardcore players that likes to run in and jump like a bunny while simultaneously getting three headshots on three noobs, then this game is not for you.... By pulling your left trigger down you are able to tell the selected squad (such as the MG team) to set up in a certain spot and then by using the left trigger again and pointing at a group of enemies, you can order them to use suppressing fire so that you can get up to some flanking mischief.... All of this is done from your characters perspective and while you can also check the lay of the land in your menu, the fact that it relies on your own field of view means that it gets you very involved in the process and ultimately adds to the experience.... Everytime I ordered them to go upstairs, instead of doing the logical thing and walking up the stairs, they decided to do an entire lap of the building the other way, which just happened to be the side that all the Germans were firing from.... When playing with your friends, be sure to not throw grenades at them As far as controls are concerned, they took quite a bit getting used to and are fairly different to the control schemes found in most other shooters.... You can sit back on your coach while your squads are in cover and take some time to scan the battlefield, look for places to flank or a piece of cover to setup your MG42 and then when you are ready, rain hell down upon your enemies.... Gameplay: 8/10 [A great mix of action and strategy] Presentation: 8/10 [ It has it's ups and downs but still good looking overall] Sound: 7.5/10 [ Corrian, lay down suppressing fire!]

It looks like the holiday video game season is here, and Microsoft isn’t taking it lightly. As if we won’t have enough to spend our money on in the next few weeks, Xbox Live is getting 2 really awesome games. Last Updated: October 17, 2008

Developer Metanet has released a third level pack for N+ on Xbox Live Marketplace and it’s FREE! So go download it now, what are you waiting for? The download weighs in at a massive 332kb so there shouldn’t be any strain at all put on your precious cap either. with 150 single player, 50 multi player co-op and 50 multiplayer  …

The Castle Crashers patch is finally on its way, I’ve held off playing the game too much because of the bugs and the fact that I can’t play with my friends. But there is hope. According to a recent post on developer The Behemoth’s blog, they’re hard at work putting the finishing touches on the game’s first title update. Last …

R-Type Dimensions 'TGS 2008' trailer Now I wouldn’t normally post a trailer like this unless there was something interesting about it. Thankfully there is, have a look 30 seconds in at the “arcade” mode that actually attempts to “simulate” you playing the game on an actual arcade cabinet. It does however seem that the camera moves rather erratically in this …

It was always going to be tough for Microsoft to live up to the Summer of Arcade’s Castle Crashers, Braid, and Geometry Wars 2. But with a step in the right direction they revealed a slew of new Xbox Live Arcade titles at last night’s Tokyo Game Show keynote. Read more after the jump. Last Updated: October 9, 2008

Just a reminder to any users of Xbox Live that the service will be down from 10am to 10pm today. So if you get home and fail to log on, don't get angry and don't throw your router out the window because it's just Microsoft is performing some maintenance. You may remember that last week we reported that Xbox Live would be down and that it will only be down for maintenance and preparations for the new dashboard, so don't think that you will be creating any avatars anytime soon. I know that tomorrow will be tough for some but don't worry, you'll be ok. Whip out all of those single player games that you always promised to finish and get the job done. Look on the brightside, you will probably be able to rack up a decent amount of achievements. I know it's a long shot, but you could maybe even try going outside a bit. I know it's a strange concept to most of you but apparently it's not so bad. I wouldn't know, I've never tried it.