The developer of Quarrel struggled to find a publisher for this Xbox Live Arcade release, with the game landing on iOS first, and it would have been an absolute tragedy if someone hadn’t picked it up. Fortunately, Ignition came along and made the release happen on Xbox Live Arcade, and thank god that they did – the world is a better place with the colourful, charming and inventive game that is Quarrel.

Quarrel is the sort of game that is so easy to get into, but is a genius execution – a cocktail of Scrabble and Risk that is hard to put down. The tutorial is helpful and welcome but does actually make the game sound more complex than what it actually is. This is one very simple game, although it’s also one that calls upon your brainpower.

So, it goes a little like this. Before the game begins, you and your opponents are dealt out equal land, which is separated and split into smaller sections. Your pint sized troops (ninjas, pirates or robots etc) then rain down into these sections, with the objective being to win your opponents sections and eventually dominate the entire map. If you are unfamiliar with the game, you may be asking yourself how words fit into this set-up?

Visually, the game has a lovely cartoon charm that should appeal to a wide audience.

It’s simple. You battle to win sections by making as high scoring words as you can find out of the jumble of letters that you are given in each Quarrel. Players receive the same letters as each other, meaning it’s quite possible for the same word to be presented. Quarrels are initiated by choosing a section that is currently home to your own troops and then selecting an adjacent area that is occupied by the troops of your opponent. The amount of letters you can place into a word is determined by the amount of troops you currently have in that section, of which you can have up to eight in each of your own individual areas – yes, as the maths suggest, that means you can create eight letter words if you have enough troops. There’s also anagrams to find in each quarrel if you have the maximum eight troops, and it’s always highly satisfying for your brain to process the letters and your hands to present them in time, with the game then letting you know that you’ve produced an anagram. As the game lets you know the meaning of each and every word, Quarrel can also be a highly educational experience.

A Quarrel with seven on three is likely to result in the former coming out on top with a higher scoring word, although, like Scrabble, it’s possible to put together some very high scoring words with next to nothing if the luck and the brainpower are there. If each player in a quarrel creates a same scoring word, the fastest player to input the word will win the fight, while if a lesser number of troops are the victor, you’ll be rewarded with prisoners that will join your own ranks. At the end of Quarrels, the winner amusingly tosses his/her word tiles at the opponent, with defenders staying where they are and attackers advancing onto emptied sections.

Over the course of each match you’ll earn treasure, of which fills up a meter. When the meter is full, you’ll gain an extra troop that can be called in to even the odds or to at least give you a better chance during certain quarrels.

It’s not all about the quarrels either.  Reinforcements are dropped it at the start of each new round, and it’s also possible to transfer your troops onto neighbouring sections, thus reinforcing that section, giving you a higher chance to produce that quarrel winning word, when the time comes to the battle of words that is the very essence of the game. There’s a feeling of great satisfaction when you manage to shift your troops towards your opponents in a mighty looking swarm.

At the end of matches, the game will inform you of your rating and how well you faired with the use of the letters you were given. There's also a persistent Word IQ that carries over to every mode.

There’s a number of modes. A Challenge mode presents you with 12 challenges to overcome,  Showdown has you facing 9 AI opponents in head-to-head matches, and Domination finally tasks you with conquering all 12 islands. AI opponents differ in their intellect, and you’ll have to be a real wordsmith if you want to beat the lot. The AI is also very smart – they know when to reinforce, and there’s times where they really appear as if they’re deep in thought and caught in a dilemma as to what to do next. But it’s the online modes where the most fun is to be had, as it’s all the more satisfying to overcome up to three real living, breathing and thinking opponents with your high scoring words, and add in the time limit pressure during quarrels, and things can get really competitive as you and your opponents scramble to produce the winning word. I just hope that the rather modest online community continues to grow or at least retains its size for the forseeable future.

The problem with Quarrel is that, while it may make use of the official Scrabble dictionary, developer Denki also had Microsoft against them. Microsoft have a censorship system in place that censors obvious words, although it also censors some not so obvious words. I can’t tell you how much frustration this causes if you think you have came up with an excellent word and then for the game to deny you it because Microsoft have decided, for one reason or another, that your word is inappropiate. The problem only exists online, as offline modes allow you to make use of any single word from the Scrabble dictionary.

Without such a problem, Quarrel would easily be a 9/10, but as it’s there and the online mode is where the most enjoyment is to be found, it does bring the game down a peg or two. If you are looking for something a little bit different, something to make you think even, this very addictive combination of Scrabble and Risk is still a game that comes highly recommended at the bargain price of 400 Microsoft Points.

8/10

The European delay came about so that edits could be made to some of the nastier cut-scenes.

Still, the wait is hardly a long one.

£69.99 will get you the following:

• Making of DVD – interviews with the developers from Piranha Bytes who delve deeper into the production of Risen 2.
• Soundtrack CD – The gripping tunes of the Risen 2 soundtrack will immediately absorb the listener into this fantastic pirate world.
• Double-sided poster – a large sized map of the game world on one side and an epic artwork featuring the hero and his crew on board their impressive ship.
• Pirate Flag – with the skull motif from Risen 2.
• Amulet – a pendant that every pirate and Risen 2 fan will be proud of.
• The Art of Risen 2: Dark Waters – an exclusive collection of art cards on high quality-paper.
• Three Risen 2 stickers.

Risen 2: Dark Waters is a pirate themed RPG developed by Piranha Bytes.

As a gaming concept, NeverDead is delightfully absurd. It has you taking charge of Bryce Boltzman,  a demon hunter, and whilst the world of videogames isn’t short of demon hunters, this one however is 500 years old and is able to operate even when he’s missing body parts, of which opens up the potential for Konami and developer Rebellion to offer up some interesting gameplay situations for us to say the very least.

Unsurprisingly, NeverDead never takes itself too seriously, it’s a game where you’re often rolling a head around, or using detached arms to fire guns after all. The exchanges between Bryce and his companions are often amusing, particularly when it comes to the subject of his immortality, and it’s the sense of humour that’s the highlight of what is ultimately just another run of the mill good vs. evil story.

Bryce’s immortality is a key component of the game. It results in a genuinely refreshing take on the health mechanic, that sees your health signified by how many of Bryce’s body parts are still attached. Losing parts will affect him in contrasting ways: the loss of an arm will see him without one of his firearms, whilst losing both legs will force you to crawl. If your entire torso is lost, Bryce is reduced to only his head and, because a particular enemy can eat it, this is when you are at your most vulnerable, resulting in what is essentially a traditional game over.

Body parts can be reattached by rolling into them and after being in a reduced state for so long, the time of which is determined by how whole Bryce is, you’re able to regenerate him to instantly make him whole again, it’s really quite clever and makes for a change from the common recharging health mechanic.

Less inventive is an upgrade system, where you can purchase enhancements and new abilities with XP won through defeating enemies. Whilst there are some enticing things on offer, such as the chance to use limbs like grenades, they’re largely not really very interesting, though it’s nice that you’re able to choose the enhancements that best suit your play style.

You are often joined by Bryce’s partner Arcadia, a woman without Bryce’s abilities, which is to say she can perish in combat. Though she’s smart enough to rarely be a nuisance and can often hold her own in a battle, and when she is downed you are able to revive her, should you be able to reach her on time.

Bryce’s abilities are well utilized outside of combat situations too, allowing you to detach his head to reach and fit through areas that his entire body otherwise wouldn’t be able to. Unfortunately whilst they often bring a new meaning to using your head, puzzles and such rarely go beyond this simplicity and, in spite of the potential with the concept, are never particularly inventive.

Strip away Bryce’s abilities and NeverDead is an ordinary action game with shooting, hacking and slashing and action that is merely adequate overall, lacking the spectacle and feedback and just generally failing to satisfy in the way that the best contemporary action titles do.

On the good side, there’s a reasonable amount of destruction within the environments and it isn’t merely cosmetic and can be used to crush enemies and such, though it can be a bit picky of what can and can’t be destroyed and likely more often you’ll bring things crashing down on enemies when you don’t intend to with stray bullets rather than through choice.

NeverDead can be repetitive too in more ways than one with Bryce himself cracking lots of jokes, it’s just a shame that whilst he has some amusing comments, they however quickly become irritating when you learn that he hasn’t got a lot to say.

Worse is that, whilst competent enough, the basic framework rarely goes beyond shooting things that rarely require different strategy from one another, as well as flipping switches. The occasional deviation from all this comes with timed objectives and some reasonably entertaining boss encounters, though little in the way of grand set pieces, whilst visually there’s a somewhat low budget feel that doesn’t really do anything to help matters.

As with most modern action games, NeverDead has an online component. This takes the form of 13 online challenges, of which are split into competitive and co-op options and can be played by up to four people. There’s a reasonable amount of variety on offer, with Egg Hunt for instance functioning somewhat like Capture the Flag, whilst Search and Rescue tasks you with rescuing civilians, whilst, at the same time, taking on waves of demons. Whilst it’s enjoyable enough and the immortal element brings a new twist to multiplayer, much like the single player there are superior options available elsewhere however.

NeverDead’s most interesting element is without doubt Bryce’s immortality and the relatively inventive approach and playful tone that it has brought to the game, but whilst it has resulted in a more memorable and entertaining experience than it otherwise would have been without it, it’s nonetheless in many ways a wasted opportunity. Ultimately, it’s simply not enough to take NeverDead far beyond a shooter of the most vanilla variety and one that has too many flaws to equal the best of them.

5/10

The game is the sequel to the warmly received Metro 2033, which itself was inspired by the well regarded novel of the same name. Like its predecessor, Metro: Last Light incorporates both horror and FPS elements offering a grim atmosphere and intense action.

The story sees Joel and Ellie fighting to stay alive, although you’ll never get to control Ellie, with her AI apparently being very up to the task – she’s said to always keep up but never gets in the way. Sounds great if this is true, but let’s just hope that she doesn’t become an annoyance.

The game will also apparently be set, at least partially, in Pittsburgh.

The post-apocalyptic game is due for release on the PS3 later this year or sometime in 2013. The first in-game screenshots can be seen over at gameinformer.

Source: gameinformer

The European delay is due to cuts made to some of the game’s cut-scenes, which includes a nasty sounding eye stabbing scene. There are also a few very small gameplay changes.

The reboot of the series was due to arrive February 14th on PS3, but it has now slipped into March. March 1st could be the date, according to Jaffe.

Source: NeoGAF

The bundle is set to be released across Europe in the first quarter of this year, and will be brought to retail by Deep Silver.

This temporary access will allow non-gold members to play the multiplayer portion of the demo.

Those who have activated Battlefield 3’s Online Pass will be given access to the multiplayer part of the demo straight away, although those who haven’t will be granted access on February 17th.

The demo will also include a portion from the single player mode, and will hit PlayStation Network on the same day.

With the Season Pass, you’ll be given access to the Fight of the Night Pack and International Pack, the Ultimate Upsets and Mixed Bag, UFC Heavyweight Championship contender Alistair Overeem, and all unlockables. The Season Pass will set you back 1360 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360 and £11.99 on PS3.

In addition, the  UFC Undisputed 3 downloadable content program is currently scheduled to include the following items for purchase (PSN prices in US dollars):

Fighter Packs

• Fight of the Night Pack
  • Featuring UFC fighters renowned for having the most exciting fights of the night – Joe Lauzon, Rory MacDonald, Charles Oliveira and Sam Stout, along with former UFC fighter Anthony Johnson – the Fight of the Night Pack will be available for a suggested purchase cost of 400 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 or $4.99 USD via PlayStation Network in March 2012.
• International Pack
  • Featuring UFC fighters “The Korean Zombie” Jung Chan-Sung, England’s John Hathaway, Germany’s Pascal Kraus, Australia’s Kyle Noke and Italian Alessio Sakara, the International Pack will be available for a suggested purchase cost of 400 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 or $4.99 USD via PlayStation Network in April 2012.

Ultimate Fights Collections

• Ultimate Submissions
  • The Ultimate Submissions collection, currently scheduled for release at launch and available free of charge on both videogame platforms, will include:
    • UFC 109: Mike Swick vs. Paulo Thiago
    • UFC 115: Mirko Cro Cop vs. Pat Barry
    • UFC 116: Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin
    • UFC Fight Night 19: Nate Diaz vs. Melvin Guillard
    • UFC Fight Night 21: Kenny Florian vs. Takanori Gomi
• Ultimate Rivals
  • The Ultimate Rivals collection, currently scheduled for release at launch and available free of charge on both videogame platforms, will include:
    • UFC 92: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva
    • UFC 111: Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy
    • UFC 114: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans
    • UFC 117: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen
    • The Ultimate Fighter^® Season 9: Diego Sanchez vs. Clay Guida
• Ultimate Upsets
  • The Ultimate Upsets collection, currently scheduled for release in March 2012 at a suggested purchase cost of 400 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 or $4.99 USD via PlayStation Network, will include:
    • UFC 92: Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
    • UFC 109: Chael Sonnen vs. Nate Marquardt
    • UFC 112: Frankie Edgar vs. BJ Penn
    • UFC 116: Chris Leben vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama
    • UFC 121: Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar
• Mixed Bag
  • The Mixed Bag collection, currently scheduled for release in April 2012 at a suggested purchase cost of 400 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 or $4.99 USD via PlayStation Network, will include:
    • Best of PRIDE^® – Final Conflict 2003: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Mirko Cro Cop
    • Submissions – UFC 125: Takanori Gomi vs. Clay Guida
    • Upsets – UFC 110: Joe Stevenson vs. George Sotiropoulos
    • Rivals – UFC 124: Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle
    • Knockouts – UFC 120: Dan Hardy vs. Carlos Condit

Alistair Overeem

• UFC Heavyweight Championship contender Alistair Overeem will be available at launch for consumers who participated in the limited time promotional offer on facebook.com/UFCUndisputed, the official Facebook page for  UFC Undisputed 3. In addition, In addition, “The Reem” will be available for a suggested purchase cost of 80 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 or $0.99 USD via PlayStation Network in March 2012.

Create-a-Fighter Boost

• Enabling players to acquire additional points for created fighter development and save an estimated 8-10 hours of gameplay, the Create-a-Fighter Boost will be available at launch for a suggested purchase cost of 240 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 or $2.99 USD via PlayStation Network.

All Unlockables

• The All Unlockables offering will be available at launch for a suggested purchase cost of 160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360 or $1.99 USD via PlayStation Network.

Quite a lot then. We’ll have a review of the final game within the coming weeks.