PC gamers on this side of the pacific sure loved their Tom Clancy shooters at one time. Games like Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six bought tactical shooting fans joy, more so than they did when ported to consoles. However, in the early part of last decade, UbiSoft used the Tom Clancy license to create something altogether different: A stealth action game partially inspired by Konami’s Metal Gear Solid. The result was Splinter Cell, a game which told a story of political intrigue and deception, and rose to become one of last generation’s biggest franchises, while making its star, Sam Fisher, one of gaming’s biggest action heroes.
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First starting life as a iphone/android game, Dungeon Defenders has since graduated to an PC/Xbox Live/PSN best seller. This hybrid of action RPG and tower defense has since become a hit with over 600,000 players worldwide. As one of 4 characters, your mission is to defend your crystals against hordes of oncoming invaders, either by your skills or your selection of defenses. Each character class has their own upgradable skills, and unique defenses. Several other classes have been added via downloadable content. The game is even more fun when you join up with other players via co-op. Weather you’re a casual gamer, a fan of tower defense titles, or a fan or RPGs looking for the next big smash, check this out.

This isn’t an actual game per se (although if you’re reading this Capcom, don’t let me stop you from making it), but rather it sums up one of the first North American attempts to make action figures based on Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. These figures made use of Gi-Joe molds. In fact, the original series of Street Fighter action figures were advertised as being part of Gi-Joe, with M. Bison and his Shadowloo grandmasters being part of Cobra.
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Welcome, Poweteers, to a brand new original column where we explore the top (and bottom) 5 items we think are relevant to any of a variety of topics that span the imagination. Sit back, read, and respond!

David Beckham is being substituted for Wayne Rooney. What this has to do with video games, I have no idea.

Sometimes in video games, the best way to experience a story is through the eyes of someone else. It’s even better when it’s unexpected. This top five celebrates 5 of the best surprise substitutions in video game history. It goes without saying that there are major spoilers ahead. To qualify, the substitution must not be hinted at early on (a’la Big Boss in metal Gear Solid 3), and must be part of the game’s canon storyline. So games where you choose between two people from the start (Resident Evil 1) don’t count, neither do secret characters (such as Richter and Maria in Castlevania: Potrait of Ruin).
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Indie games usually come in two varieties: games that introduce an awesome new concept (Flow, Frozen Synapse, Amnesia: The Dark Decent), and games that remain fun while refusing to reinvent the wheel (Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Issac, Everyday Shooter). Demolition Inc falls into the latter category. You play as an alien demolition worker out to destroy Earth’s cities to make the world into a recreation center. You’ll use zany weapons such as oil clouds, wheel glue, and even exploding cows to cause mass destruction and chaos. The game’s physics engine has buildings tumbling down realistically, making things satisfying and allowing you to set up chain explosions. The game’s major weakness is it’s lack of levels. A sandbox mode helps extend the game’s life somewhat, but what this game really could use is a map creator for custom levels. However, the game is cheap, so you can pick it up off Steam. It may be light on plot, but the humor makes up for it.

In this day and age of achievements and online leaderboards, the cheat code is a dying aspect of console gaming. However, back in the day, secret codes were king. Whether it was a debug mode for Sonic, a stage select for Vice: Project Doom, or a sound test in Ninja Gaiden, discovering a cheat code was like opening a Christmas gift. However, there was one code that more than any other, would be remembered by everyone.

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So I’m gonna catch some serious heat for featuring a game which ‘hardcore gamers’ weren’t quite fond of, however, the important thing is that I enjoyed it, and if you give it a chance, you’ll enjoy it too. Dragon Age II is the successor the BioWare’s Dragon Age, a game that was a return to form to Bioware’s early fantasy epics such as Balder’s Gate. Dragon Age II takes the series in a slightly different direction from its precdecessor, and while it moves the saga along in unexpected ways, it turned off many of the series’ more hardcore fans.
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This week’s Lost Classics takes a look back at a classic, yet underrated gaming device. Before FPS games became the norm, this is how we got up close and personal to do some blasting.
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