Borderlands 2 Preview

Castrum - Kotaku's done a preview of some of the things that are different in Borderlands 2, probably most notably that those shitty Tediore guns are now basically grenades:

Gearbox Software showed off an early version of Borderlands 2 at Gamescom, quickly getting to one of the better weapon innovations in the gun-centric role-playing shooter. Tediore brand guns, as demonstrated by Gearbox's Steve Gibson, are as disposable as clips. Rather than reload, players will simply toss the entire gun. They'll toss it like a grenade at enemies when the clip runs out. They'll do so because those guns behave like grenades, exploding when thrown.

http://kotaku.com/5832501/the-ultra-disposable-gun-is-just-one-of-the-great-big-little-improvements-in-borderlands-2

Age Of Empires Returns To Form

Castrum - Kotaku's done a great preview of Age Of Empires Online, the new Free-To-Play AoE game: 

While the basic mechanics of Age of Empires Online is fairly reminiscent of previous versions of the game, the overall approach to the game has a component of persistence that changes everything. 

The game's new core is built around a persistent city that is home to both the game's many quest givers and the decorative spoils of war, but also things that allow you to permanently shape and augment your armies. 

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The capital is built up by unlocking blueprints for new buildings. These buildings allow you to do things that provide permanent bonuses to your armies, and even new units. It's also where, as you level up through quests, that you will build out your tech tree using earned points. The tech tree does things like giving a bonus to your walls, or making your spearmen a bit more dangerous. Once activated, these all come into play every time you do a quest. There are also advisers that you can assign to your civilization that offer massive bonuses. One, for instance, gives all of my soldiers the ability to slowly heal over time without a priestess.

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The gameplay, what Age of Empires players will know and love, is all built around competitive matches and quests. I've spent an enormous amount of time playing through the quests. Each is assigned by different folks in your town and they range from traditional, beat-the-bad-guys matches to survival, to having to find missing units and save them. When you drop into a quest it's like dropping into a level in an old Age of Empires game, but with a significant difference. Your overall level, the one tied to your capital, impacts what you have access to. Early on it means very limited troop selection. By level nine I was able to make camel riders, slingers, axe and spear men, as well as a priestess for healing and a defensive tower, walls and gates.

I got in on the Beta for this, but never bothered to try it out. I may just have to give it a spin sometime soon.

http://kotaku.com/5830262/why-you-need-to-play-age-of-empires-online-and-believe-my-lies

The Game Of The Year, Previewed

Castrum - Kotaku's done another preview of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which I'm virtually assured will be my GOTY. Everything I hear and see about this game makes it all the more epic, which makes me wonder if I'll somehow manage to beat my previous record of 200+ hours in two weeks that I attained with Oblivion:

http://kotaku.com/5828687/an-hour-with-skyrim-its-amazing

Looks Like RAGE Isn't Just Another FPS

Castrum - Kotaku's done a preview of this likely-to-be-awesome FPS that certainly intrigues me.

If you like Fallout games and what sounds like a decent story, check it out:

http://kotaku.com/5826646/rage-is-the-id-software-comeback-ive-been-waiting-for