Designed by former policeman Jim Walls, the Police Quest series injected a dose of realism into Sierra’s classic adventure game formula. Although the games featured fictional plotlines, the situations players encounter in the games are based on scenarios that Walls had to endure during his years as a police officer. The games require you to use proper police 56procedure when making arrests and handling other police scenarios. The first three games tells the story of Sonny Bonds, a veteran of the police force as he goes to war against drug cartels, biker gangs, and even satanic cults. Police Quest 4 was designed by controversial police officer Daryl Gates, and it was more of a point-and-click adventure as players stepped in the shoes of John Carey, an LA police detective out to stop a serial killer. After 4, the Police Quest series spun off into the SWAT series. The first two SWAT games were billed as Police Quest titles, but when the series became an FPS tactical shooter, it moved away from the Police Quest branding. The first four Police Quest games, as well as the first two SWAT games are available on Gog.com, so if you ever wanted to know what the life of a police officer was like, check them out.

Yeah, everyone is excited about Duke Nukem Forever finally coming out this summer, but until then, we got Serious Sam. Created by Croatian developers Croteam, Serious Sam is a throwback to the early days of the FPS genre, before complex AI, upgradable armor, fancy graphical tricks, or Hollywood-style movie plots. While this high definition remake employs a new graphics engine, it retains the same chaotic shooting action that’s just as fun now as it was back in 2002. As the title character, you travel back in time to stop the armies of the evil Mental. The First Encounter sees you in Egypt while the second takes you to Central America and Medieval Europe. You’ll encounter zany enemies such as headless suicide bombers (who are somehow able to scream) and skeleton horse creatures. If it had a 2D equivalent, it would be Smash T.V, as much of the game involves Sam shooting waves of enemies. Both the First and Second encounter are available in HD form for $20 each, so if you didn’t check out this game the first time, now is a good time to do so.

Another one of the more fun indie games that we saw during our jaunts through the PAX East Expo Hall was one created by Demiurge Studios titled “Shoot Many Robots”, where you do just that – stomp, romp and riddle holes into every robot you encounter.

Demiurge has lent talent to the production of Mass Effect, Borderlands, Brothers in Arms, and Rock Band, amongst others – so it’s no surprise that is game looks fun as heck. Described by the booth exhibitor as “BorderSlug” (the bastard child between Borderlands and Metal Slug), Shoot Many Robots pits P. Walter Tugnut (the “P” stands for Pickles – no wonder he sticks with “Walter”) against an invasion of robot guns with legs, chainsaws with legs, and so on.

It’s slated for a release in 2011. Perhaps a XBox 360 “Summer of Arcade” release? We’ll find out!

Warner Bros was a solid presences at this year’s PAX East in the grandiose Expo Hall, sporting their large logo just above an equally large dragon logo that is the mainstay of the Mortal Kombat series – WB’s product through NetherRealm Studios.

I managed to mosey my way over to the collection of arcade cabinets that had been customized to accommodate the new game, due out in April. Competition was tough for spots to play the games, that had several cabinets back-to-back, and although I didn’t get to play myself and taking video of gameplay was forbidden, I managed to watch a significant amount of matches and garner information and pictures.
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Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

The Kingdom Hearts franchise is a series of video games which varies in quality from amazing to barely playable. Let’s look at the series at it’s best and worst.

The concept was a weird one that didn’t seem to mesh at all. Take some Disney characters, throw them in with a bunch of Final Fantasy characters, toss in a few Keyblades and see what comes up. The result, it would seem, was something gamers really took to.

Though the game was Japanese first, it included a ton of Disney characters. The concept in the first game on the PlayStation 2 was basically that each new world was based on a new Disney movie which brought it’s characters into the fold as well. Even amongst the Disney characters the range of types of movies varied greatly, but they still managed to coexist in the rich world that was created quite well.

The game’s Hero is accompanied by Donald Duck, Goofy and Jiminy Cricket. Disney themed worlds are based on Alice in Wonderland, Hercules, Tarzan, Winnie the Pooh, Aladdin, Pinnochio, The Little Mermaid, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Peter Pan. Beyond these worlds other characters from other Disney properties make appearances. We see Mickey, Minnie, the Brooms from Fantasia, Merlin, 101 Dalmatians, the Fairy Godmother and Cinderella, Aurora and Maleficent, Snow White, Belle and the Beast, Simba, Dumbo, Bambi, Mushu, Chip and Dale and Huey, Dewey and Louis.

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For the first day of gathering intel on the floor of the PAX East Expo Hall, I managed to sneak some footage of one of the more interesting games being featured – SkullGirls

SkullGirls caught our eye due to it’s interesting style of gameplay and art. Looking like a cross between Marvel vs. Capcom and Guilty Gear, SkullGirls features some very crisp 2D art done by none other than Alex Ahad of Scott Pilgrim game fame. Developed by Autumn Games, it features young women duking it out with symbiotic skulls on their heads. It looks cooler than it sounds, so judge for yourself.

More PAX Coverage:
Powet @ PAX � First Photos

PAX East is upon us! Even though some Poweteers ended up stranded for various timeframes due to poor weather in Boston, some of us managed to brave through the rain and arrive to the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (relatively) intact!

Upon first entering, it’s clear that despite the radical move from the Hynes Convention center that Pax East was at last year (and originally was slated at for the next few installments), the BCEC is much better at accommodating not only the droves of gamers from all over, but also the scores of vendors, media outlets, and industry guests that are here to show off their wares at the much larger Expo Hall. Whereas last year’s PAX East overshot attendance expectations and seemed cramped, this years looks like it will shape out to fare much better in its roominess.

Enjoy the first photos from the convention under the cut as the beginning of our adventures at PAX! More will be coming through the weekend!

Here’s hoping that rumor about $12 for a hot dog and drink turns out to be untrue.
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