Adventure/Explore

Again for the Third Time

High Getting unstuck by realizing that I'm a goofus, rather than checking an FAQ and thinking: "How was I supposed to think of that?"

Low The overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

WTF Lego Davy Jones is adorable.

Metroid Meets Pokémon

HIGH The theme song in the Treehouse Grotto.

LOW The late-game money fetch quest that sticks out as padded play time.

WTF Why is the giant rabbit named Lobster?

L.A. Noire is one of the most anticipated games of 2011. The premise is unique, as gathering evidence and solving cases are going to be at least as important as any other features of gameplay. The motion capture looks amazing. The voice acting sounds fantastic. There's a lot to be excited about when the game finally emerges next month. Unfortunately, L.A. Noire is also set up to be one of the most segmented game releases in recent memory.

The Sixty Dollar Indie Game

HIGH The eureka moment, not in discovering the solution to a puzzle, but in discovering the solution to approaching the game itself.

LOW The early hours with the game, where each uneventful hour felt like an eternity.

WTF I still can't figure out how to say "this game feels like a 10 dollar downloadable" without it coming off like an insult.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

HIGH Ping-ponging a room full of enemies with a combination of spell and scythe, and watching them all meet their grisly fate simultaneously, tangled in the vines of Mag Mell's Rose.

LOW Getting knocked down a hole after failing a boss QTE 20 times.

WTF For being upset at having to execute all of her sisters, Gretchen sure seems to love making a graphic display of their demise.

Weightless

HIGH The beginning of the housing area, when playing as a shadow is well-realized.

LOW Tedious, repetitive levels—and far, far too many of them.

WTF Did the devs really think this much switch-flipping was good gameplay?

Terry Garrett is completely blind. Although he lost his eyesight at an early age, he didn't lose his love for gaming. Garrett appreciates the usual gaming mainstays like Metal Gear, Metroid, The Legend of Zelda, and Mario, but it is the Oddworld games that he gets the most out of.

It isn't difficult to see why. The Oddworld games were 2D and possessed very strong sound design. The game characters spoke (more or less) and just about everything (most on screen objects) in the game emitted a sound a player could differentiate. This combination creates a playing environment open to blind player. Even so, there is a process that Garrett must go through to play the game.

This is Jenn AKA XtremeJenn, AKA Lara Croft. She is what one might call an extreme cosplayer. Jenn is known in the cosplay community for going a little out of her way to get the best shots when dressed as Tomb Raider's Lara Croft. Case in point, this particular image has her hanging off a 165-foot waterfall in Victoria, Australia. Most of her photo shoots strike that perfect balance of peril and authenticity that in her words "capture the spirit of Lara Croft" so be sure to check them out.

Hanno Hagedorn is a 3D artist that worked on Crysis, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and the upcoming Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. After promising (mostly himself) to create an online portfolio of his works, it's (mostly) done. Most impressive among his work are these digital sculptures of characters from Among Thieves. If they could be recreated in resin, I'm sure they would be mounted proudly on the bookshelf of every Uncharted 2 fan.

While no one at Ubisoft seems to know for sure whether there will be an actual sequel to Michel Ancel's Beyond Good & Evil, there is no doubt that an High-Defintion (HD) version of the original game will be making its way to the current-gen HD consoles.

Set for release on Xbox Live Arcade (March 3rd) and the PlayStation Network (at a later date), this update features 1080p visuals (improved character models and textures) as well as a remastered soundtrack. Achievements, trophies and online leaderboards will also be added.