Review: CastleStorm (XBLA)

Ninjas versus pirates. Birds versus pigs. With CastleStorm on XBLA, add knights versus vikings to the list of enemies that don't like each other very much in tower defense-type games. But this isn't a typical tower defender. CastleStorm relies on a lot more strategic elements, including deploying troops and creatures on enemies and unleashing heroes with classic old-school hack & slash brawling to bring victory and vanquish the opposing castle dwellers.

CastleStorm is more than just an Angry Birds copycat. There is more than one way to win besides knocking down walls, although the best strategy is to pound the enemy's castle and secure a win through destroying theirs first.

Preview: Gears of War: Judgement (360)

Gears of War: Judgement is a prequel to the original Gears of Wars, which made a splash when it first appeared in 2006 with it's over-the-top, chainsaw-gun, eat-shit-and-die, curb-stomping, cover-based gameplay. And the two sequels that spawned from the original were released to relatively universal critical acclaim outside of some comments on the ham-fisted storytelling.

Preview: Halo 4 (360)

Incredibly, it has been 5 years since Master Chief's last appearance in Halo 3. During those years, Halo-themed games, Halo Wars, Halo: ODST, and Halo: Reach were released but none of those were proper sequels. Rather, they fit elsewhere in the continuity of the storyline introduced by Master Chief's exploits involving the galaxy-destroying Halos. Halo 4 picks up where the original trilogy ended: Master Chief adrift in space with his buddy AI, Cortana.