http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIdEeHm1aDY

Go check out Jack Lumber. It’s 33.3% off for the first few days of release, at just $4.99/£2.99.

Jack Lumber on the Mac App Store [$4.99/£2.99]

iOS Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUXvUjEfbaI

We are super excited about this long awaited release. Go check it out on the Mac App Store for £8.99/$12.99.

Ravensword: Shadowlands on the Mac App Store [£8.99/$12.99]

Publisher: Feral Interactive

Price: $49.99/£34.99

Description: Turn-Based Strategy with a Pump of Action

Mac App Store Link

Rating

Pros: Great sense of progression; tense conflicts; huge scale.

Cons: Some quirky camera angles; crashes; temptation to load a save.

Review

Turn-based strategy can seem like a daunting prospect for those who have not had the chance to delve into the genre. Whilst Fireaxis may be minds behind the turn-based king Civilisation, XCOM: Enemy Unknown offers a much more accessible, action-orientated experience which makes it the ultimate introduction to this deep gameplay style.

XCOM is all about humanity’s continuing battle against an alien invasion. XCOM: Enemy Unknown splits itself between base and unit management, and does a good job of balancing the two. One minute you may be monitoring each continent’s status and researching and upgrading new gear. The next you could be thrown into a bloody battlefield where you get to delve right into the deep sophisticated gameplay of player vs alien combat.

Looking at the game from the bigger perspective, there is a great sense of progression throughout the campaign as you learn more about your foes, and equip yourself accordingly. Events like abductions and alien attacks are randomised, and whilst the game follows a loose story, there is a lot of room to allow the player to forge their own path through the main game.

The turn-based elements of XCOM consist of your chosen soldiers being dropped into a large, open landscape with varying amounts of cover and obstacles. The start of a scenario is the most tense, as most of the time you don’t even know which direction the enemy will attack from. Taking advantage of different forms of cover, and your soldier’s special abilities will give you a leg-up on your opponents, but acting too boldly may result in disastrous consequences.

Soldiers gain experience from each battle, and earn a class which specifies their speciality, skill tree and weapon of choice. XCOM goes to great lengths to form a bond between you and your soldiers, and it works surprisingly well. Each soldier has a name and their own visual identity, and once a soldier gains a certain rank, he or she even gets their own nickname. It superficially heightens the stakes of each battle and causes the player to become much more emotionally connected to the things happening on screen. Seeing ‘Magic Man’, my Support soldier who backed-up my front-liners with med-packs and cover fire, get brutally shot in the head by an alien certainly struck a nerve or two.

XCOM is all about risk versus reward. Will you attempt to stun the new formidable alien to see what makes it tick? Or pick it off from afar, losing potentially a lot of valuable information to help you fight them in the future? Some players may not like the fact that XCOM bases a lot of its gameplay on chance. Each shot you make has a percentage chance to hit, depending on the type of cover the target has, how far away they are and the kind of the weapon your man is using. It can be frustrating having a shotgun-wielding super-human miss their shot when they are just meters away from their target, but conversely, a lucky hit could alternatively change the tide of a battle in your favour as well.

XCOM is its most rewarding when the stakes are high. So it’s important to resist the urge to just reload previous saves whenever something doesn’t go your way. Whilst it can be irresistible to bring your favourite dead companion back to life by reversing a few turns, this sense of loss and gain is what makes XCOM such a tense, unpredictable experience.

If the temptation is too much, there is an Ironman mode available which allows for only one save game meaning all mistakes are set in stone. This is a great reason to jump back into the game once you fully know the ins and outs of XCOM.

The Mac version of XCOM isn’t totally bug free at the moment, for my 27″ iMac anyway. The game sometimes quits when loading a cutscene, which can cause you to lose some progress. Make sure your machine can manage this huge game before purchase over on the official website.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown may present itself to be a turn-based strategy game, but its fast-paced gameplay, unique use of cinematic camera angles and pumping music certainly doesn’t make XCOM a sit back and relax experience. XCOM’s real accomplishment is that it not only has the depth and dexterity to please dedicates of the genre, but also has enough action and accessibility to entice newcomers to the style. Go check it out now.

Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itPR-ka1aRA

Quote from Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feJxKQJ3Is8

This unexpected price cut may be to promote Digital Tribe Games’ upcoming horror game, Dementium, which suggests it could be appearing on the Mac App Store soon.

Velvet Assassin on the Mac App Store [FREE]

System Requirements

 Minimum System Requirements: Processor: 2.0GHz, RAM: 4GB, Graphics: 256MB, Free Space: 15GB.

The following graphics cards are not supported: ATI X1xxx series, ATI HD2xxx series, Intel GMA series, NVIDIA 7xxx series and NVIDIA 8xxx series. The following graphics cards require 8GB of system RAM: Intel HD3000, NVIDIA 9400 and NVIDIA 320M.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbWnJrkEs6g

This hefty 14GB download will run you £34.99/$49.99 on the Mac App Store. Go check it out now.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown on the Mac App Store [£34.99/$49.99]

Publisher: Feral Interactive

Price: $24.99/£17.49

Description: Racing With Sonic and Co

Mac App Store Link

Rating

Pros: Colourful, vibrant and wacky; creative level and character design; online multiplayer; SEGA fan service.

Cons: Very generic beneath the glamour; doesn’t introduce any novel ideas into the mix.

Review

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars racing borrows a lot from the king of kart racers; Mario Kart. But it would unfair not to appreciate All-Stars under its own merits. It successfully uses the worlds from SEGA’s biggest names like Sonic and Super Monkey Ball to create colourful, wacky and ultimately enjoyable kart racer that is a definite recommendation for those who want a quick blast throwing bombs and missiles at their their friends in the same room, or on the other side of the planet.

Sonic & SEGA is packed full of races and modes. You’ll find the classic Grand Prix mode, where you race on 4 different maps with your points racking up to produce a final result. The Missions give your character a particular goal, such as drifting or collecting rings, with a grade being awarded at the end on your performance.

All modes win you SEGA miles, which can be used to purchase new characters, tracks and… tracks (music tracks that is). You’ll find no horrible in-app purchases here, and thankfully SEGA has made it challenging, yet achievable, to unlock your favourite characters and the best maps.

But despite all of these modes, perhaps the only thing that makes me doubt Sonic’s longevity is that the actual racing feels uninspired, especially in 2013. You collect power-ups which range from mines to boosts to shields, nothing new there. You can drift to gain a speed boost, and there are hidden shortcuts in each level to get a leg-up on your opponents.

Whilst I love the environments, collectables, characters and overall loveable style of the game, this sugar coating doesn’t seem to be covering anything special mechanically. Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing’s most notable gameplay mechanic is a special bonus known as going ‘All-Star’. This is a character specific ability that, when activated, gives the players a unique speed boost. However, I was disappointed that despite the flashes and sparkles, each All-Star ability is functionally very similar.

One of SEGA All-Stars’ biggest attributes is its inclusion of a very comprehensive multiplayer mode through Game Center and split-screen. You can have up to 4 players sitting around the same screen (compatible with most controllers), or instead play against 3 other online foes. It is the most compelling aspect of All-Star Racing, and is the feature that is going to bring you back to the game when the single players races become tiresome.

Whilst I can’t say that Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing blows Mario Kart out of the water, it will provide a lot of enjoyment for fans of the style and the infamous game company. It won’t bring much new to the world of karting, but it does allow you have some harmless fun with your mates.

Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlQwTvHWg3k

Gaige is a downloadable DLC character for Borderlands 2. She is a high-school student that has a thing for creating awesome, bandit-killing robots. With her comes D374-TP, or Deathtrap, one such bandit-killing robot that aids you in battle throughout the game. In terms of upgrading your skills, you have the choice of either upgrading Deathtrap with new abilities like a laser beam that sets enemies alight, or spending spending skill points on Gaige herself. As well as giving the high-schooler the ability to bounce bullets off walls, Anarchy is a totally new mechanic that acts like a combo reward system. More on that later.

Gaige certainly doesn’t have a lack of skills, with a fully comprehensive skill tree to her name. In fact, you’ll more than likely find it harder choosing between them because she has such a wide array of abilities at her disposal. Some are dedicated to her trusty robot, and others to improve other areas of effectiveness. Gaige does seem to have a fascination with shock damage, which I am not so fond of, but some of her other skills, such as giving DT the ability to heal allies, or regenerating your health if your magazine is full are incredibly helpful on the field. There’s a complete list of all of Gaige’s skills on her Wikia page.

Anarchy is only applicable to Gaige’s character and is a kind of combo reward system. You get one stack of Anarchy for reloading a weapon that’s run dry (no bullets left in the magazine) and for killing an enemy. The more Anarchy you collect, the higher your damage, but the lower your accuracy. Whilst it is addicting collecting hundreds of stacks over a period of time (and quite demoralising when you lose it all by manually reloading), I found it didn’t quite work with my play style. I am all for accuracy. It’s all about getting those criticals with a powerful sniper from a distance away. But when you’ve collected over 150 Anarchy stacks, you’ll find that all that goes out the window. It seems to be suited more for someone who predominately uses an assault rifle or shotgun, for which it can be a right romp.

Gaige certainly doesn’t make Borderlands 2 a whole new game, and keep in mind that you will have to start from Level 1 at the beginning of the campaign to use her. But if you just haven’t had enough of Borderlands 2 just yet, then playing as Gaige is the best way to dive back into the experience. You will come to love the reliability and security of your very own pet robot, and if ricocheting bullets and dealing massive amounts of damage doesn’t entice you to download this DLC, then I don’t know what will.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq3m5wubqEQ

Here you’ll see my personal impressions as I experience Gaige in realtime over 10 hours. Click to here to view high-res version.

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Publisher: Aspyr Inc.

Price: $9.99/£6.99

Description: Borderlands 2 with a lot more Wildlife.

Mac App Store Link

Rating

Pros: New nature-inspired setting, new enemies that change the dynamics of the game, hunting wild animals is fun through side-missions.

Cons: Story is very short.

Review

Upon looking at the trio of DLCs for Borderlands 2, I saw what looked like an interesting swashbuckling adventure with Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty, coupled with a crazy, explosive romp with Mr Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage. Sir Hamerlock’s Big Game Hunt certainly felt like the neglected one left in the middle, and was the campaign I was least looking forward to.

But upon arriving on the continent of Aegrus, you see it’s a whole different story. As I made your way towards towards Hammerlock’s suspended country lodge at the start of the DLC, I came across some new Native Indian bandits fighting a huge four-legged insect thing, who, in turn, was being bombarded by explosive spores that whimsically float from area to area with a finesse of a jellyfish. What’s great about Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt is that Pandora no longer feels yours anymore. Instead it feels unfamiliar and threatening. And I like it.

Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt is all about going back to the roots of Borderlands, its wildlife. While the story is certainly a welcome distraction, the main reason you’re here is because you want to hunt some of the biggest and baddest creatures in Pandora. The main story is relatively short, but still very enjoyable, but the host of side missions truly help you explore this new unknown territory.

The fresh environments have been totally remastered. They mostly consist of swampy, grungy areas with tall rock structures and hand-built thatch and wood huts where the natives reside. It’s a stark contrast with the typical arid, plain locals from the main campaign, which makes the monster hunting all the better.

The monsters may steal the show for the most part in this DLC, but the generic Bandits have received a huge overhaul as well. Now donning wooden shields and face masks, some Bandits have even got magical capabilities Witch Doctors are very powerful enemies in the game, and can cast a myriad of deadly spells depending on their element of choice. They can heal allies around them, transform into fiery tornados, pull you into their grasp like a black hole and fire balls of pure slag from their staffs. It’s certainly not only the monsters that you need to keep an eye out for.

Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt is perhaps the most enjoyable of the Borderlands’ DLC. Its story may be a little short, but the new huge landscapes to explore leave a lot of room for the player to explore for themselves. The new enemies really add an element unpredictability and uncertainty, and it’s always refreshing to reformulate combat strategies to deal with new threats. A definite recommendation.

Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1BSen8Wsp4

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Publisher: Aspyr Inc.

Price: $9.99/£6.99

Description: Borderlands 2… with more Badass Explosions

Mac App Store Link

Rating

Pros: Still Borderlands 2, hilarious, awesome boss fights.

Cons: Story doesn’t go anywhere interesting, some bland environments.

Review

Who doesn’t love explosions? That’s the main question that Borderlands 2’s second DLC screams at you in all caps, throwing aside the main storyline of the varied campaign in order to take you to another area of Pandora, an arid land filled with canyons, races, blood, carnage, and, of course, loot.

Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage starts off strong with a hilarious cutscene depicting the main plot of this new DLC. The new story however, isn’t anything that will strike you as particularly incredible or heroic, and no real plot twists occur. Put simply, the story itself is an enjoyable affair, but not like the epic struggle between the devious Handsome Jack and the Vault Hunters. As the mysterious vault hunter, you’ve got to become the ultimate badass in the Badass Crater of Badassitude. You do this by knocking off the five badass-est badasses of the crater in gladitorial fights, to be ultimately crowned king. It’s a simple concept that has received a lot of Borderlands love to make it overall a very successful campaign. Mr. Torgue himself talks to you during the story, with excessive use of hilarious, but censored, profanity in all caps with sweet guitar solos in between. Adding several new memorable characters, Mr. Torgue himself included, the story holds itself up and makes a lasting impression, just not as much as the main campaign did.

However, this DLC isn’t really focused on story, nor is it supposed to hook you into the experience; by this time, you’re already hooked, and the game knows it. While traveling across similar-looking areas to the main game (with the exception of the Forge), the humor is excellent, and on-par with much of the actual campaign. The environments aren’t particularly varied, but the Forge provides an awesome lava backdrop, and the large Southern Raceway is a great place to fend off those pesky motorbikes. Sadly you can’t ride one of them. While the campaign relies on you liking, or even loving, Borderlands 2 already, its main focus is on traveling to different areas to fight the other contestants in a gladiatorial brawl. The battles are often exciting and intense. The first game’s DLC, Mad Moxxi, heavily relied on recycling the same arena for the main boss fights without much variation in setting, and this took away from a lot of the fun. Gearbox Software has obviously recognized this, and the few battles that do happen in the arena are awesome and thrilling, with a final boss battle so memorable you’ll be laughing the whole way through.

There isn’t as much of a wealth of content here as there was in, say, Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty, with only a handful of side-quests. But they’re enjoyable enough in their own right. However, it’s clear why the normal abundance of them are absent as there are replayable battles on tiers 1-3 for level 50’s to enjoy. They’ve also added a new raid boss and, with returning characters like Moxxi and Tiny Tina, there’s certainly enough here to warrant the low price.

With the bizarre new characters, up-to-par humor, exciting boss battles, new enemies and an eight hour campaign, this DLC is definitely worth picking up for its low asking price of $9.99. Also, explosions.

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Thanks to Luca for contributing his review of this Borderlands 2 DLC. Clocking in over 100 hours in BL2, we could think of no-one better to help us out with our Borderlands 2 DLC coverage. You’ll find him on Steam under the name rhombiii, or here on Tumblr and deviantART.

Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDsTrzzMWxY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB5SEWUwxFA

We are already working on a review for Sonic & SEGO All-Stars Racing, so keep an eye out for that on the site soon. Meanwhile, you can go check it out on the Mac App Store for $24.99/£17.49.

Sonic & SEGO All-Stars Racing on the Mac App Store [$24.99/£17.49]