Coming soon, you will be able to mix the world of RPG and pinball with the Epic Quest table. Epic Quest takes one part pinball, one part RPG stat progression, one part loot grabbing and then throws in a dash of humor to sweeten the mix to create a new game that defies logic. I mean, who would have thought of merging pinball with the RPG genre, but Zen Studios has and it looks pretty funny.

Epic Quest allows you to play pinball as you normally would, but as you play, you are slowly earning all kinds of unlockable gear for your clueless hero to wear into battle. The quests that you undertake are of the normal fare for any of the Zen Studios titles, but defeating them grants you loot and experience. When your game ends, your progression continues into the next game, keeping you in a neverending loop of loot and level grinding.

Epic Quest is set to arrive as a downloadable plugin for both Zen Pinball on the PSN and Pinball FX 2 on the XBLA. No pricing has been set, but Epic Quest is coming sometime in the near future from Zen Studios. Check out a host of screens and the announcement trailer below.

When I first heard about ScaryGirl, I was unsure as to what to expect. I was not a big fan of the graphic novels that the game is based on, but I knew of them. I knew about a girl that had been lost at sea and rescued by an odd Octopus that became a pseudo-parent to this lost child. But beyond that I had no idea how this strange concept would play out in a video game. Thankfully, ScaryGirl found a way to mix unique visuals with a tough as nails platform title that is as fun to play as it is to look at.

As stated, things have not gone so well for ScaryGirl. She was found at the bottom of the sea by an octopus named Barney, who clothed her and set her up with a house with items found at the bottom of the ocean. This explains ScaryGirl’s appearance, which is a mash up of all things odd, like an eye patch, a strange vest and stitches for a mouth. She even has a tentacle arm, although that is never really touched on in the explanation of the character here in the game. We do find out that ScaryGirl is being haunted by dreams that lead her on a quest to find out what is happening with The Tree of Knowledge.

Of course, getting to the Tree of Knowledge isn’t as simple as walking down the road, or ScaryGirl would be a rather dull and pedestrian game. Instead you have to travel through several distinctly different lands, each with its own unique palette and design style that look absolutely gorgeous. The whole visual style immediately brought to mind Psychonauts, in the sense of being very colorful and unlike anything out there right now. The animation flows very nicely with all of ScaryGirl’s movement and even to the little things like background animation.

ScaryGirl does move beyond its visuals to its core gameplay which plays out as a standard fare platformer. The game does do a few things to change the playbook a bit, as you have branching paths that allow players to approach a level in different ways. And the game moves in a weird 2.5D style, where the world is sort of rotating as you play it. If you are on a winding road up a mountain, you see the action not from a side view, but more on an isometric view of the curved road up the mountain. ScaryGirl has standard attacks like a light and a heavy attack, and each can be bolstered with upgrades that you can buy from a roaming salesman that randomly appears in certain levels. You collect gems, which then work as the currency of the game. While the upgrade path was not deep, the upgrades do add to the overall fun of the game.

Things falter a bit when you get to controlling standard movement, as ScaryGirl’s controls feel a bit floaty. Many times, I found that when I tried to pull off a finesse move, the touch was just not there more often than not. I never felt like I had solid control with the character as she interacted with things like jumps, or short movements. I tried a second controller to see if it was a controller issue, but the problems still remained. This becomes a bigger issue in the later levels of the game, as the enemies come fast and furious and the difficulty ramps up and you start fighting the controls to control the mayhem on the screen.

The difficulty also starts to become a fighting factor with the game, because it does ramp up to Mega Man difficulty levels, but with lesser controls. I want to have precise controls in a platformer and ScaryGirl just does not have that sense of control. Maybe it was just the 360 controller in general, but not having a frame of reference for either the PS3 or PC versions, I can only go on what we have to review, and it is a bit troublesome. It might be something that can be patched, but if not, it could be a problem as it really starts to hurt the enjoyment that you are having about halfway through the main game.

ScaryGirl does have solid drop in/drop out local co-op for those that have a friend or family member that want to journey through this beautiful world on your couch. The second player plays as a Kung Fu fighting rabbit, which has some slick combat moves of its own. The co-op is fun, and it does help when you get to some difficult sections in the game.

Overall, ScaryGirl has a great look, and captures the visual style that has been found in the Nathan Jurevicius graphic novels, but the iffy controls detract from the fun that you will get in the game. It is a fun diversion that I want to like, and continue to go back to try different paths and to try and find all the gems, but it just falls from being a great platformer.

The Good:

• Colorful Art Style
• Unique Environments

The Bad:

• Floaty Controls
• Unbalanced difficulty in later levels

Family Focus
ScaryGirl never shows any real blood or subject matter that could be considered objectionable. Some might be bothered by an orphan girl raised by an octopus at the bottom of the ocean, but really, the game is safe for all ages.

That said, I really want to play this amalgam of comic book and shooter. If you want to as well, just head over to the PSN marketplace or on to the Xbox Live Marketplace to get your Gotham City fix.

On XBLA we’ll be getting Puddle (800 Microsoft Points) and Quarrel (400 MSP) on 25th January – followed by Rhythm Party (800 MSP) coming 1st February. Also, don’t forget that the following week Microsoft will begin their House Party line up.

Two new pieces of DLC will also be coming each for 800 MSP – first up, The Mediterranean Traveler map pack will be arriving for Assassin’s Creed: Revelations on 24th January. Owners of UFC Personal Trainer for Kinect will be able to get the Cain Velasquez Workout Pack on 31st January.

The deal of the week running from 24th to 30th January will be 50 percent off a whole host of LA Noire content. This ranges from 40 MSP for The Broderick Detective Suit to DLC mission packs for 160 MSP. Bastion will also be 50 percent off the following week until 6th February, costing just 600 MSP.

In Games on Demand 2K’s Duke Nukem Forever will be out 24th January followed by a trio of games on 31st – these will be: Cabela’s Outdoor Adventures, Section 8 and First Templar – which will be releasing a demo also on this date along with EA’s remake of Syndicate. UFC 3 will be letting you try out your skills in the cage on 24th.

Finally you can dress up your Avatar in a host of new outfits beginning with Threadless apparel, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Ninja gear on 24th January. Then on 31st January you’ll be able to get your hands on Microsoft’s Deluxe Collection and Darkness 2 wear.

That’s a lot of stuff over the next couple of weeks. I’ll be looking forward to trying out Syndicate next week and if you haven’t already would urge you all to pick up Bastion.

Check out the new video for Sinamora below. Sinamora is coming from a joint development project between Grasshopper Manufacture and Digital Reality and is being published by Microsoft Games Studio.

Activision finally disclosed some new info on this new title, announcing several of the maps that will be included with the release. All of the seven announced are considered classic maps in the Tony Hawk series and loved by fans. Those maps are as follows: Warehouse, School 2, Mall, Phoenix, Hangar, Marseilles and Venice. The maps were selected by Tony Hawk, with input from fans on Twitter and Facebook.

The Warehouse was a given, along with the Mall, Hanger and School 2. The others are not favorites of mine per se, but I think they have done a great job picking maps. Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD is coming from Activision for PS3 and Xbox 360 along with other unannounced platforms this spring.

Downloadable content is meant to expand on the player experience. Some studios might see this as an opportunity to introduce whole new worlds (a la Fallout 3‘s Point Lookout), or a simple expansion. “RAAM’s Shadow” falls into the latter category, and while some gamers might find that it falls short, it’s a must have for diehard Gears fan.

It packs a lot of multiplayer punch, giving players willing to shell out the MSP (or for free, if you own the Gears Season Pass) new multiplayer characters, and the “Chocolate” weapons set.

Of course, the main focus of RAAM’s Shadow is the single-player campaign. With over 3 additional hours of gameplay, you might wonder why exactly did Epic not include any collectibles in the campaign. A bit of a let-down for any collector junkie, but the campaign delivers nonetheless.

Harken back to the days of the first Gears of War. Back in 2006, when gamers first stepped into the world of Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago, we didn’t know what to expect. Who the hell are these grumbly guys? Why was Marcus locked up, and what the HELL are these Locust things? While Gears of War 3 delivered the epilogue of the entire series, “RAAM’s Shadow” takes us back, way back, to a time before the first game happened. It’s a prequel, and gives us a look at the events that led up to the Locust Invasion of Sera, and what exactly was “E-Day” and the Hammerstrikes.

It's like Bill. Except with COG armor.

Players assume the role of Barrick, a member of Zeta Squad, and a former Stranded who was plucked off the streets of Sera, had a Lancer shoved into his hand, and enlisted with the COG. Gamers who have taken the time to read all the extra Gears of War books written by Karen Traviss and the comics would know of him more than those who have not. For most of the campaign, players view the planet from Barrick and Zeta Squad’s point of view, as the Locust begin their assault on the human race.

However, a few parts of the campaign give players a chance to play as the terrifying General RAAM, and while some players may cringe at the thought of ripping apart COG soldiers, the rest of us enjoyed every last bloody second of it. It’s a great change of pace, and offers up a different perspective on the events. Remember that lovely Kryll cloak the nasty General toted around aboard the train with the Lightmass Bomb? Yeah, now’s your chance to point that finger and tear apart COG soldiers.

The campaign, as mentioned before, is only about 3 hours long. However, in those three hours, we’re given some great environments to shoot our way through. We move from an open space, to a parking garage, a school, and even to an orphanage at one point. And there’s none of those troublesome Lambent bastards either.

While the campaign achieves its goal of a much-needed fleshing out of certain plot points within the Gears universe, it still comes out feeling a little flat at times. No collectibles? Seriously? Searching the corners of each and every room yields little reward except for an ammo dump, which will be unnecessary to the seasoned Gears player. A few places within the campaign were also a little hard to navigate, but that could’ve just been me with directional issues.

RAAM sees shadow, six more weeks of Kryllstorm.

Of course, as a DLC pack, you can’t be expecting the longest of all campaign experiences. It’s a short, but powerful, rollercoaster ride through the fall of Ilima City as we watch the Locust begin their assault. Well, we also get to see how powerful one finger can be. And it’s not the finger you’re thinking of.

The Good

Story fleshes out the events before the first Gears of War.

Still as mechanically sound as main game experience.

Annihilate the COG as General RAAM with his Finger of Kryll Doom.

The Bad

No collectibles are hidden in those darkened corners.

Level design leaves something to be desired.

Campaign is dismally short.

“RAAM’s Shadow” is currently available for download from Xbox Live for a price of 1200 MSP, or free if you have a previously purchased Gears Season Pass.

Family Focus
With all the blood, gore, cussing, ESRB M and PEGI 18 ratings, it’s a self-explanatory no.

Paddy Burns, chief tech officer for Minecraft‘s Xbox Live port studio 4J Studios, said in an interview with Edge, “Microsoft knows that to do a similar thing that’s on PC where they constantly update it, that’s a very difficult thing to do on Xbox because you have to go through the full tests.

“But the are quite keen to move towards that — they do see it as the future, so I think we might be the first to do constant updates.”

Does this mean 4J will be releasing updates as they come along? No, they won’t be. “I don’t think it’ll ever come to that,” said Burns. “I think that there will always be Microsoft testing involved.

“But the whole turnaround of that testing they’re hoping to speed up, so we can maybe roll out every two months. We’ll have to see how that goes… I’m really looking forwards to it being updated with patches and new features after it’s released.”

Via CVG.

Oh my chuffing God, I hope that the Resident Evil 6 viral rumours are true!

What do you think? (FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, TELL ME IF YOU KNOW.)

Check out the site for more info on the upcoming release on PSN and Xbox Live and you can watch the new trailer below.