Title: Traitor’s Keep DLC for Fable III
Genres: Action, Adventure, RPG
Platform: Xbox 360 (Downloadable)
Developer: Lionhead Studios
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release Date: Mar. 1, 2011
ESRB Rating: M for Mature

Lionhead Studios, as if apologizing for the embarrassment that was their "Understone" DLC, released another downloadable quest as an add-on to Fable III (see my review of the full game here). An apology is worth nothing, however, unless there is heart in it. With that in mind, "Traitor’s Keep" DLC is a panting fireman who’s just saved a family from their burning home and runs back in for their beloved cat, Claws.

Unlike "Understone," which provided only one very small location (albeit inventively placed) with an all too linear objective and short, humorless narrative, "Traitor’s Keep" spans three brand new and expansive areas (islands) – Ravenscar Keep, Clockwork Island, and The Godwin Estate – that collectively play host to 4 new missions and several side quests capable of quenching any post-crowned adventurer’s wander-lust. Lionhead claims that the main story, which concerns events and people at a secret prison that keeps Albion’s most notorious criminals, takes no less than 2.5 hours to complete. As wandering about is half the fun of Fable, I think my gameplay clocked in somewhere around 5 or 6 hours for obtaining all 250 Gamerscore worth of new achievements.

"Traitor’s Keep" is all about back-story. By way of an assassination attempt, the monarch comes to learn of Ravenscar Keep (the aforementioned prison) and that it has long been used by at least the two previous rulers: the current hero's brother, Logan, and mother. Given Logan’s predisposition towards military might and his hard-line tactics towards the general populous, one can imagine what types of people he incarcerated there ... namely revolutionaries, like the present monarch (though less successful), who’ve been seething ever since their imprisonment. While touring Ravenscar, players learn of a plot betwixt three pathologically fixated inmates, each of which (gasp) constitutes a quest, and one of whom fills in some blanks about how Albion transitioned to its industrial state.

While "Understone" presented little challenge to players who had already leveled-up their character by way of completing the game, "Traitor’s Keep" introduces new enemies as well as a few variants on some favorite beasties that manage to evoke some mildly impressive battles (some of which are more inventive than tough and vice-versa). In addition to the new clockwork creatures (beetles, exploding dogs, and psychotic automatons), there are rainbow-licious hobbes, extra-hollow hollow men, and (my favorite) drunken balverines. There are humans to fight as well, and being in a prison seems to have honed their group-based fighting skills a bit.

If there’s a weakness to "Traitor’s Keep," it’s the obvious moral choices. Kudos are deserved for including them at all, but the few choices that are presented are so heavily weighted that there is absolutely no ambiguity concerning where the hero’s yea or nay would place him or her in an opinion poll...a shame given Hobson’s prominence throughout the earlier portion of the DLC. More decisions affecting the public-at-large would have been terrific, especially if they came to learn of the prison despite attempts at secrecy. That could have at least added a feeling of political pressure.

Most importantly, "Traitor’s Keep" brings the funny. Sight gags and great writing as well as Fable in-jokes found scrawled across myriad notes and letters abound throughout this DLC. Supplement all of the above with four new outfits (three collected and one given) and one robot dog (non-exploding) to call your very own, and the 560 MS points it takes to purchase this quest seems a pittance for the experience.

[Highly Recommended]

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This review is based on downlodable content purchased by the reviewer.

I have always been addicted to the zombie genre, so it was natural that Left 4 Dead made me feel, as the old proverb states, "like a kid in a candy shop." "Crash Course" is the newest offering served up by Valve via DLC for both Xbox 360 and PC.

You start off with a downed chopper in front of you and your teammates beside you, complaining about a zombie pilot. The city is littered with the usual flipped cars, random burning fires, and lots of great dark places for you to get yanked and made a four course meal of. The gameplay is the same fluid shooter experience you have likely come to expect from L4D, with no real tweaks or changes. The level design, however, is excellent. It's a little on the linear side, but it is cramped and filled with obstacles, which really helps to give players that feeling of claustrophobia and total fear.

"Crash Course" suffers from a few setbacks. Sitting at only two chapters of actual gameplay, it's far too short; it only took me and two other people a total of 30 minutes to complete a pick-up game. Versus is a different story altogether though; a few pick up games took us a total of an hour and a half to finish, so that made up for it. For PC gamers this DLC is totally worth it (since its free), but for Xbox gamers it costs the significantly less-free 560 Microsoft points. I don't know if I can blame Valve for this, but I fully believe that I can blame Microsoft. I have also come to find it a little annoying that they didn't make any changes to how you fight the horde. Its the same "bunker down, get ready, and unload mounds and mounds of ammunition into the undead onslaught" pattern.

In your first stand you get to set off a huge cannon attached to a military vehicle to clear your path, and from there it's just rinse, wash, and repeat. Your last stand before completion is turning on a power generator to get the Dawn of the Dead-esque bus off the auto lift. The only moment that's just a bit different is when the power goes out. If you're not near the generator, you actually have to fight your way through the masses of undead flesh to get back and switch it on. (Do it fast enough and you get an achievement.) Left 4 Dead 2 promises to make us work to stop the horde, and I hope Valve follows through on that promise. Don't get me wrong – I love to empty clips into zombies – but after playing for hundreds of hours it can get a little old.

In closing, "Crash Course" is a solid and fun offering to help you pick up the game if it's starting to feel a little stale. However, it's a short-lived run and takes a cut of your MS points for Xbox owners. If you don't mind paying the points, though, I totally recommend that you download this. For PC gamers... what are you waiting for? GET IT!

So just a few weeks after release, EA is already scrambling the jets to help out the multiplayer aspect of Brütal Legend.

According to EA's site, a new mulitplayer map pack is due out November 3, 2009 for Xbox 360 owners and will cost 400 Microsoft Points. PS3 owners get theirs on November 5, when it will be available for free download for about 2 weeks before it is officially sold for $4.99 on PSN. Named "Tears of the Hextadon," this map pack will feature two new maps – “Circle of Tears” and “Death's Fjord” – and a new axe for players to battle with. Sounds pretty good, right...?

Well, let's look at the facts. This does increase the number of multiplayer maps available in game. However, the map count only increases from six to eight. The new axe might be an improvement, but the teams are what really need work, not the weapons.

I don't plan on getting this expansion. Like I said in my review, there is not much replay value in the game and all of the maps are really similar. My loathing of these maps is made even stronger by the knowledge that most map packs for games give so much more than just two maps and a modified weapon. The fact that this is also going for dirt cheap probably means that the multiplayer engagement in Brutal Legend is falling fast. Don't expect to see much more out of Brütal Legend unless EA and Double Fine put their heads together and really try to fix the game's major shortcomings with this game.

[via G4's The Feed]

The best GTA game that everyone forgot about has been making headlines this week on two accounts. First, the story of a young, preteen girl who helped her family to safety after their 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee flipped into a ditch. According to her mother, Karen Norris, Audrey Plique was able to recognize the danger of an overturned vehicle and react accordingly, thanks to Grand Theft Auto! "She just knew, from playing Grand Theft Auto,” Norris explains. “She saw on there that when a car rolls over, it can blow up. She knew that could happen to us." Help arrived soon after and all members of the family walked away with only cuts and bruises.

Second, we have word from Eurogamer that, according to “sources close to Rockstar North,” the downloadable content exclusive to the Xbox 360 is on track and might be arriving sooner than we think. According to these sources, the content will take the form of two ten-hour-long episodes. New achievements for the episodes have also been reported, as well as other rumors running the gamut from new cities to extra story content. According to Eurogamer, the release date for all of this new GTA goodness is to be sometime in late November of this year.

[via Game Politics, Eurogamer]

In an interview with MTV’s Multiplayer Blog, BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk (zest-chuck?) hinted strongly at bringing some more downloadable content to their space opera Mass Effect. Its been about five months now since the first piece of DLC, Bring Down the Sky, went live on 360 for 400 points, and was later made free with the PC release of the game. Since then, fans across the net have been wondering if this was just a one-time affair, now Greg Zeschuk is here to shed some light on the subject.

Zeschuck explains:

“Well, we said it was a trilogy, so there’s some stuff happening. We’re also looking at some other post-release content. We’re working away. BioWare’s pretty busy these days… With everything we build now, we want to have this long-term relationship with the customer and always have something for them to try. So we’re definitely looking at that for Mass Effect.”

Definitive? Not exactly, but at least it’s something. It sounds like they’re trying to decide whether to release these extra missions they’re working on now as DLC now or save them for Mass Effect 2 where they’ll receive more polish and fine tuning.

[via 1UP]

In response to claims made in an IGN Podcast, Nintendo has issued a statement denying restrictions on the WiiWare downloadable content system. IGN claimed that Nintendo imposed a 40MB limit on file size for third-party WiiWare titles, that they created a one-release-per-month limit for the games, and that developers would set their own prices.

Nintendo responded in a statement to Eurogamer, telling the website that the company sets no size limit on WiiWare games, but they "encourage smaller, more compact games." They are also "contemplating" a one-release limit in order to keep titles flowing at an even pace. (as we've seen with VC titles) Nintendo gave a vague answer on the question of prices, stating that they have not announced information on pricing, but that their goal is to release "fresh, new content at a low price."

Luckily, there is no size limit on WiiWare games. With the right amount of freedom, Nintendo may soon start to see truly unique independent games. Maybe they'll even see something similar to Microsoft's XBLA or Sony's PSN (albeit smaller in scope). The release limit makes sense, and there should be no reason for anyone to get angry about it. If Nintendo allowed games to be released however developers wanted, it would result in haphazard timing and droughts in releases. Plus, gamers would have trouble determining when new games are being released and when to check the Wii Shop for new ones.
[via Joystiq]