If you own an Xbox 360, then there’s a very good chance you’re looking forward to Gears of War 2, the sequel to one of 2006’s best shooters. The original game was ultra-violent, visually stunning, and immensely satisfying. A PC version of Gears was released a year later, so it’s probably fair to say that Gears of War 2 would also have one eventually, right?
Wrong—for now at least.

Gabe Newell, Valve Software’s big cheese, told VideoGamer that Left 4 Dead will have a demo for the Xbox 360 and PC. According to Newell, the demo would “probably” include the Hospital level and would include online cooperative play, in addition to the single player component.
Left 4 Dead is an upcoming multiplayer FPS-cum-survival horror game developed by Valve, and it’s coming out for the Xbox 360 and PC. Unfortunately, Valve’s co-founder could not provide a release date for the demo. If you’re wondering what the Hospital level that Newell is referring to, then watch its video after the jump.

We have good news and bad news. First, the good: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky has finally gone gold. As for the bad—the PC exclusive is going to be released a week later than the originally announced date. From August 29, the Shadow of Chernobyl prequel is coming on September 5 instead.
Does a week’s delay really matter in the grand scheme of things? There are two answers to that question. From the business standpoint, yes it does count–somewhat. From the gamers’ perspective, not really. Good thing we belong to the latter.
Image for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is courtesy of GSC Game World.

Crysis Warhead is not a direct sequel to the original Crysis, the visceral 2007 FPS that made PCs worldwide tremble. Crysis Warhead is more of a parallel story about Michael “Psycho” Sykes, one of the characters in the original.

This just in: Ubisoft has finally announced the minimum system requirements for Far Cry 2. While the upcoming FPS is indeed looking sweet, the required specs sure aren’t pretty. Thankfully, it’s also coming out for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 so if you have either console, there’s nothing to worry about. Unless you hate using dual analog sticks for shooting.
To run Far Cry 2, you’ll need the following:

You may have heard this one before: Xbox 360 gamepad users get an unfair advantage in Halo 2 for the PC, thanks to auto-aim. Jeff Gerstmann told us all about it when he was still at GameSpot, but I’ve never seen it for myself since I don’t use Windows Vista—the only operating system that can supposedly run Halo 2.
I’ve stumbled on a YouTube video of auto-aim in action. People on the video’s page argue that Xbox users need auto-aim since their gamepad isn’t as good as a mouse. What I don’t understand is that why is there a bother to …read more

When one speaks of Bioware, the first thing that comes to mind are role-playing games. With critically-acclaimed titles such as Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Neverwinter Nights tucked under its belt, Bioware has truly established itself as one of the premiere RPG makers.
Mass Effect for the PC is the latest Bioware-developed RPG. While it shares some similar elements with the company’s previous releases, Mass Effect plays like a different beast because it’s also a shooter—a first for Bioware.

I love shooters, whether they’re in third- or first-person view. It’s my favorite game genre. I also love Western role-playing games. I think they’re the closest we gamers can get to pen-and-paper RPGs. I never thought that these two major genres could be combined into a single, compelling experience.
Ion Storm did something similar in 2000’s Deus Ex. It combined FPS and RPG, but while multiple paths are available to the player, the role-playing elements are as hollow as protagonist JC Denton’s voice. The plot was all action, so like any Hollywood action flick, there was hardly time for meaningful characterization.
In …read more

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay is just one of the many games in my backlog list. I recently resumed my adventure in the PC shooter recently and got snagged with a particularly tricky boss fight. I love every moment of it, but I’m still clueless as to how this foe can be taken down.
I’m supposed to make my way to the spaceport hangar and meet up with a certain character, but a huge armored guard is in my way. This isn’t your typical armored suit, however. If you’ve played Chronicles of Riddick, then you probably know how to …read more

\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nI\\\\\\\’ve have ranted about Gears of War\\\\\\\’s PC port for quite a bit, but that\\\\\\\’s only because I had high expectations. The Xbox 360 version was the next best thing since sliced bread. However, I wanted to experience the same thing without the risk of a certain console’s insufficient cooling.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nGears of War’s technical problems may have pushed me to the brink of an aneurysm, but that didn\\\\\\\’t stop me from enjoying the game. When a crucial update finally took away my agony, I knew my time to enjoy the game was due.\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nAnd you know what? I was right. I\\\\\\\’ve been …read more