Review: Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles

Surprise, surprise, Zen Studios has just released some new pinball tables and they're all great. I don't even know if I should waste my time and yours reviewing the newest pack; I mean, if you're already a fan you won't need a review to convince you into buying it, and if you're not a fan I'd recommend a trip to your local psychiatrist. The latest addition to Pinball FX2 (or Marvel Pinball on PSN) is Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles, a collection of four new Marvel-themed pinball tables—"The Avengers," "Fear Itself," "Infinity Gauntlet," and "World War Hulk."

Despite already releasing numerous tables, Zen Studios still somehow manages to throw in new elements that switch up the way one plays a table. The "Avengers" table has a team system in play where you get a choice between one of six character-based balls, each with their own powers. It adds an extra layer of strategy and kept me coming back to see how other balls played, as well as learning when to use a specific ball over the others. I did find it a bit overwhelming at first, but I quickly got the hang of it and ended up enjoying the "Avengers" table quite a bit.

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Review: Heroes Call (iOS)

Heroes Call is an action-RPG for iOS similar to games like Diablo, Titan Quest, Torchlight, etc in look and feel—the same 3/4 isometric camera; the abundance of loot; and the "click, click, click" replaced with "tap, tap, tap." It's a free universal app with in-app purchases for "gem" packs—which can be found in-game during quests—used to buy new characters, gold, identification scrolls, or speeding up in-game wait times. The only character available for free is the Blood Knight (use your imagination), and a Plague Wizard can be purchased with gems; two additional classes—Combat Alchemist and Shadow Assassin—are "coming soon."

My biggest concern with IAP-based games is whether I need to buy IAP or if I can get by—much slower of course—without paying a penny. Thankfully, I never once felt the need to buy gems for gold, scrolls—plenty can be found during quests (much more frequent than gems)—or for removing the wait time for new quests. And while I prefer playing as a mage, I didn't have a problem sticking it out with the knight. That said, I won't be spending much more time with game for one very specific reason.

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JAM Live Music Arcade Review

JAM Live Music Arcade is a peculiar game and I'm not even sure I want to call it a game—it does contain a game-like arcade mode, but the heart of JAM is in its, conveniently called, "Jam" mode. "Jam" mode gives the player the ability to mix and mash together up to five different instruments, including vocals, and then switch between five different tracks per instrument. It's a simple system and easy to learn—especially thanks to the game's thorough tutorials; however, while it's fun at first, it doesn't take long for the game to lose its appeal.

Before I go too far into JAM's faults, I do want to say the game supports whatever guitar peripheral you own and does seem to recommend the use of a guitar controller over a standard controller; that said, I found using the standard controller was much easier and more fun than using any of the numerous plastic guitars I own.

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Indie Game Music Bundle #3: Ilomilo, Frozen Synapse, & More

Do you like music? Do you like bundles? Do you like bundles of music from games one would call "indie?" If you said yes, you'll be happy to find out the "Indie Game Music Bundle #3" has just been released, and it's full of lovely music waiting to penetrate your ear holes. If you said no, would you kindly punch yourself in the face—that was from me.

Now, like previous bundles, you can get five wonderful soundtracks if you pay at least $1—Ilomilo, Frozen Synapse, Plants vs. Zombies, Terraria, Fastfall (Dustforce OST); however, if you feel so inclined to pay $10 or more, you'll also get ten additional albums—which is a fantastic deal no matter how you slice it. As always, I love supporting the little guys—I'm a rather little guy myself (not where it counts)—and I hope you find the time to contribute a little yourself; a little here and a little there goes a long way. Get the full details via linkage above or below; y'all have until June 11th at 3pm CST to contribute, so act fast and don't forget to spay or neuter your pets!

Indie Game Music Bundle #3

The 'Hitman: Absolution - Sniper Challenge' is Quite Lovely

I usually pay little attention to pre-order bonuses, not caring about a poster or some in-game outfit I'd never wear, but Hitman: Absolution - Sniper Challenge is a rare exception that grabbed my attention immediately. Sniper Challenge is a little mini-game, a non-demo demo, a taste of Hitman without representing the actual retail game, at least the majority of the retail game. It's not the first pre-order bonus of its kind—Fable II Pub Games says hi—but it's still a rarity and something I'd like to see more of.

Now the game itself is a single-level sniper challenge with leaderboards and about a dozen or so challenges that increase the score multiplier upon completion. It's extremely simple upon first viewing, but it's full of so many small details and different ways of accomplishing the various goals and challenges. You can shoot a guard as he's leaning over an edge to knock him off the building, taking him out and hiding his body in one quick shot—ignore the commotion that would come as said body hits the ground; you can shoot out this or that to cause a distraction; and plenty more I don't want to mention because much of the fun comes in trial, error, and the discovery of something unexpected.

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Save and Save Often in Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition

Minecraft on the Xbox 360 is the popular girl in school right now and even I managed to get sucked in despite owning the PC version and knowing the XBLA version is a year-old build. I love building whatever I want with no set goals and the tension caused by the potential loss of hours of work from a creeper exploding, sending lava or water flooding throughout my ADHD-created mine; it keeps the game exciting. What doesn't keep the game exciting, however, is losing hours and hours of work because the game kicked me to the main menu.

I was indeed kicked and it might as well been a kick to the balls, my blocky, pixelated balls. At first I thought all was well as the game claims to autosave whenever a certain icon pops on screen, but I learned the hard way that the autosave system is either a lie or broken. Hopefully this little problem will be patched and patched soon, but until then, I recommend you save and save often if you're one of the million people already playing Minecraft on the Xbox 360.

Thomas Was Alone - Final Stages Crowdfunding

Thomas was alone, but he didn't want to be. He thought of a solution that could keep him from needing to grab a loan—not that there's anything wrong with loans—and that solution looked an awful lot like friendship, a friendship started without the use of kicking.

 Now that I've had my fun with words, it's time to get serious my fellow ladies and gentlemen. Thomas Was Alone is a puzzle platformer I enjoyed when it first showed its face years ago as a simple flash game and I'm really excited to see the concept and beautiful minimalist art refined into a full-fledged game—I'm excited to the point where I made two posters a while back just because I felt like it. But as the game starts inching closer and closer to release there are expenses that need to be paid and this is where you can lend a hand.

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Tony - The Darkness II

Ronotra Koss - Sine Mora

Random Doll - Stacking