This week Valve released the Survival Pack for Xbox 360 for free. PC gamers should expect the same later this week. In addition to the versus mode being added to the last two campaign maps, Valve also threw in a brand new mode titled “Survival.”

In Survival, you and three other people fight off hordes of zombies in matches usually lasting under ten minutes. Teamwork is essential; if you try playing by yourself with just the AI don’t expect to last longer than about 3 to 4 minutes. With you and three friends, you should not have a problem with getting the bronze or silver medals — now gold is where it gets tricky.

With the addition of Lighthouse, there are now sixteen maps spread across the five chapters - all playable on Survival mode. The maps offer good spots to hold the zombie hordes at bay and plenty of supplies including health packs, gas cans, propane tanks, molotov cocktails and pipe bombs. While some areas look promising at first, players will soon realize they made a mistake once the zombies break through all of the walls in the room you were held up in.

At the beginning of each match you will have time to decide where to place all of the gas cans and propane tanks to maximize their effectiveness against the waves of zombies. Players will definitely have to stay on their toes as the usual mobs of regular zombies are accompanied by multiple special zombies including Boomers, Hunters, Smokers and Tanks. Interspersed between the waves of zombies are short lulls where you can go and resupply on ammo, health, and pipe bombs. Depending on the players skill you may never see these lulls.

Players can also compare their teams times with other teams times on the leader boards. This should foster some competition for the top spot as there are already teams who have survived for more than twenty minutes. Don’t ask me how, I’m still working on ten minutes.

Each map works well on Survival with my personal favorite being Lighthouse — there’s nothing quite like getting punched clear off or watching somebody else getting punched off the light house by the tank. Gameplay courtesy of Gametrailers is embedded below.

Easily the best DLC to come out in recent month, players can expect to experience some of the greatest co-op gaming moments with the new Survival mode. With Survival playable on 16 maps and Versus mode now playable for all Campaign maps this is a must download for Left 4 Dead fans. And best of all… it’s free.

Xbox 360 and PS3 versions

Wii version

Red Faction: Guerilla takes place fifty years after the original game and pits you against the EDF, (Earth Defense Force) who were your allies in the first Red Faction. You play as Alec Mason, a miner who recently rebelled against the EDF.

In the demo, players play one mission where you’re tasked to grab a construction mech and deliver it to a rebel base. During the mission, players have access to a wide range of weapons from pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, mining charges, and a trusty sledge hammer. As you make your way to the hanger with the construction mech, you can blow up EDF buildings along the way and gain support from the civilians. Gain enough support and they will fight alongside you.

Once you get the mech prepare for total destruction. You have two primary attacks with the mech — you can swing the mechanical arms over your head and smash down, which ideal for buildings and vehicles. Or you can swing them side to side; great for those pesky foot soldiers. Think you have to move around that three story building? How about walking right through it. Anything is possible with enough explosives or a big enough vehicle in Red Faction: Guerilla.

Eventually you make your way to a flat bed truck, which transports you and your mech to a nearby rebel base. As you ride on the truck you are treated to a rail-gun sequence where you must defend the truck against an onslaught of armored vehicles until you reach your destination. There are more opportunities to use the environment to your advantage as you ride down the road. Time you attack just right and you take out several armored vehicles near a gas station.

Red Faction: Guerilla is looking to be a solid summer game. While it might not be the AAA title with the great story, no one minds a little mayhem and destruction. Red Faction: Guerilla is all about using the environment to your advantage or generally just blowing shit up and having a good time doing it. Expect Red Faction: Guerilla this June on the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

NCsoft library now on Steam

NCsoft has announced that their award-winning MMO franchises including City of Heroes, Guild Wars, and Lineage are now available on Steam. NCsoft’s latest MMO, Aion, will also be made available through Steam when it releases this fall.

Harmonix announces Lego Rock Band

Lego Rock Band was announced this week and is being developed by TT Games and Harmonix. Gamers will recognize TT Games for their work on previous Lego games. So far there are five confirmed songs; “Song 2″ by Blur, “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas, “The Final Countdown” by Europe, “Boys and Girls” by Good Charlotte, and “So What” by Pink. Lego Rock Band is scheduled for release this holiday season on next-gen consoles and handhelds. Full Press release here. Damn them for putting good songs with freakin legos.

Brutal Legend releases this October

Tim Schafer and Double Fine Production’s latest creation, Brutal Legend, is set for release on October 13. Brutal Legend stars Jack Black as the main character Eddie Riggs as he battles an evil emperor in a world where every Heavy Metal Album cover and lyric Eddie has ever heard comes to life. You can check out the full press release here.

Tekken 6 trailer

Check out the new Tekken 6 trailer that was shown at Microsoft’s Spring Preview Event. Don’t expect gameplay, but at least the CG looks good.

Left 4 Dead DLC released this week

Valve has released the “Survival” Pack for the Xbox 360 and is soon to be released on the PC. With a brand new multiplayer mode named Survival, and the ability to play the last 2 campaigns in versus mode Valve is looking to continue L4D’s success. You can check out our initial impressions here.

New Fallout Announced

A new Fallout was announced earlier this week. Details are slim but we do know that it will be titled Fallout: New Vegas and is being developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Shacknews has an interview up where they talk to Pete Hines, Bethesda’s Marketing VP, about Fallout: New Vegas.

Halo Wars new DLC “Strategic Options”

The brand new “Strategic Options” DLC will be available in the coming weeks. This new content contains three new multiplayer modes: Keepaway, Tug of War, and Reinforcement. Along with these new modes there will also be four new achievements. You can read the details of each mode and achievement here. No set release date or price was announced.

In part one there certainly was not a lack of shooters. Part 2 branches out and includes some stalwarts of their respective genres - be it the award-winning MMO World of Warcraft to Burnout Paradise, the latest in the acclaimed Burnout series.

World of Warcraft

There’s a reason everyone has heard of World of Warcraft - there are nine million people missing from their daily lives. WoW is one of those games that you start enjoying within 10 minutes, and it starts to consume your every waking hour. Being a MMO, character creation is an important facet of the game and choices are fairly robust. You can choose to be anything from a Night Elf Rogue to an Orc Warrior. After you select a character you’re dropped into Azeroth: a land filled with other players vying to reach that next level. You move from one area to the next completing quests for local citizens in need of small favors such as clearing a pack of bandits from a vineyard. As you progress toward the end of the game, players can choose to take part in everything from twenty-man raids, to massive dungeon runs, or epic PVP battles.

In recent years WoW has emerged as ruler of the MMORPG genre thanks to its accessibility to new players and a deft marketing strategy. All it takes is some determination mixed with a truckload of time and you’ll find yourself deep into the game trudging through the toughest dungeons and battling the biggest bosses - but it doesn’t end there. Blizzard adds new content to the game free of charge periodically through patches, so technically the game never ends. Blizzard has released two major expansion packs - The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King - which are among the best-selling and most critically-acclaimed expansions of all time. For the hardcore WoW fan, both are worth a look.

Gears of War 2

Chainsaw bayonets. Brutal headshots. Meat flags. Pretty much sums up a quality game experience. When we played the original Gears of War for the first time we were taken aback by its perfect combination of beautiful graphics, unique gameplay, and the overall epic atmosphere. In Gears of War 2, Epic Games opted to keep the same essential gameplay design of the original and added another layer of badassness.

The new campaign takes the fight to the Locusts in expansive locations that take you from Jacinto to deep into the Locust lair. As the game goes underground you’ll find yourself facing tougher enemies in unending chasms, both on foot and in vehicles. You can choose to play through the campaign with a friend either online or offline via split-screen.

New features to the Gears universe include weapons, vehicles, and multiplayer gametypes. One of the highlights of Gears 2 is the Horde multiplayer gametype. In Horde, a team of up to five human players will work together to fight off wave after wave of Locust attackers. Each wave becomes progressively more difficult to defeat making it a challenge for even the hardcore fans. Gears of War 2 still retains all of the classic gametypes such as Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and King of the Hill, making Gears 2 a must have for the shooter enthusiast.

Fallout 3

Sure, we’ve all done post-apocalyptic before. In fact, Left 4 Dead, which was noted earlier in part one, takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. However, Fallout 3 is definitely worth a look for the hardcore RPG fan. A marked departure from the previous two instalments, Fallout 3 asserts itself as one of the most critically acclaimed games in recent years.

Beginning the game as a toddler in an underground Washington D.C. vault, Fallout 3 uses this opportunity to acquaint you with your character and your general skillset. The early years of your life move by quickly, and along the way you learn about your father. A series of events leads to your father’s disappearance and you following his trail into the Wasteland.

While there are primary objectives to complete, it’s largely up to you to explore where you want and play the game the way you want. If you want to be friendly and helpful you can - conversely you can be evil and sadistic. The actions you take in the game ripple throughout and serve well to immerse you in the game.

When you enter combat you can fight from either a first or third person perspective, or you can use the game’s much hyped feature; the V.A.T.S. system. This displays critical areas of the target’s body and the likelihood that you can actually hit that body part with your weapon. After choosing where to fire the game goes into slow motion and you get to watch yourself riddle your enemy with bullets. Land the shots just right and you can even dismember approaching enemies. With multiple endings coupled with the wide open expanse of the Wasteland, seeing everything on the first play through is practically impossible.

Warhawk

One of the first AAA titles for the PS3, Warhawk showcases the power of the PS3 architecture. Warhawk had a built-in fanbase throughout the development cycle and on its release it proved to be one of the most consistently played PS3 titles.

Graphically the game has a unique look that trends towards a more arcade look and feel. Fans of the original know that focus is on aerial combat, though the developers did add in a robust ground component. The game is balanced in such a way that whether you prefer to be on the ground or in the air you have plenty of ways to defeat your enemies. Ground combat is characterized by a decent selection of guns and vehicles, while planes have differing power-ups.

Multiplayer servers can have up to 32 people in a single room - if you consider that each of these players can man an aircraft in dogfight mode you can find yourself with some pretty chaotic skies. Warhawk successfully integrates the Sixaxis controls into the flying vehicles - but there’s always the option to control the vehicles using the joysticks if you’d rather play the game that way. With its addictive and perfectly balanced multiplayer, Warhawk should be a staple for every PS3 owner.

Burnout Paradise

Criterion Games could have just brought us a repackaged Burnout: Takedown and we all would have been cool with that. Instead they took the series in an entirely new direction with Burnout Paradise with grand effect. Taking everything you loved from previous Burnout games and placing it into the open world of Paradise City, Criterion Games has successfully moved the series from a linear racer to a sandbox style of play.

Basically you drive around the city searching out challenges to take on. Once you enter a challenge you’ll find the game behaves much like the older Burnout games, but it feels a lot more open as you essentially create your own paths to victory. There are hidden shortcuts and ramps all over the place to get you to the finish line in style. With numerous challenges all over the map, Burnout Paradise offers hours of replay value.

Crash mode, now called “Showtime,” has been redesigned so that you can do it anywhere at any time. Once you’ve activated Showtime mode you can string together the ultimate, never-ending crash. Multiplayer has also been redesigned to accommodate the new free-ranging style of Burnout Paradise. Online play merges your world with others and you can work in a coop fashion to complete challenges. With additional DLC, Burnout Paradise is a solid game for the racing enthusiasts and fans of the previous games in the series.

That’s our top 10. With this list you should never fall into a state of boredom again wondering what game to play. Be sure in the comments or on twitter to list the games you play and we will create a user-generated list in the coming weeks.

Ah World War 2. The oft-trodden landscape of game developers. A genre that some say is tired and overdone, but to gamers out there it seems there is an insatiable need to reenact the battles of the Greatest Generation. Company of Heroes has been a bastion of the genre and recently marked its return with another standalone expansion pack in Tales of Valor. In a departure from previous games, Tales of Valor offers up three distinct mini-campaigns alongside a fairly robust multiplayer option.

Fans of the series are going to notice the lack of serious strategic challenges within the campaigns. This new expansion takes a different tact in the mini campaigns by making the game more situational. The mini campaigns have you taking control of a single Tiger tank as it makes its way through Villers-Bocage (French town), leading a small group of allied troops taking a causeway after D-Day and as a small group of Wermacht soldiers sent to aid troops escaping the Falaise Pocket. Each campaign is made up of three missions - I know what you are thinking - that’s not a campaign. While short, each one does have a unique feel that immerses you in the action. A good parallel of the action would be World in Conflict and its reliance on a small number of units in combat.

Tales of Valor does offer up new features including new units, a direct fire mode, and three multiplayer modes including stonewall, assault, and panzerkrieg. New units include the Tiger 205, M18 Hellcat, and the Hotchkiss H35. Direct fire is a new feature that allows you to take control of your men’s weapon and point and fire. Not sure how much this will actually be used by players, but it does add a certain arcade like feel to the game. Multiplayer is where Tales of Valor has its weight as a standalone game and the three modes offer plenty of replay value.

Stonewall is a cooperative game type and allows up to four players to defend against wave after wave of increasingly difficult German units. Easily the best of the three, stonewall offers up plenty of strategic opportunities for you and your friends. Assault is more of a castle-esque game type. Defenses are prepared and you take control of a hero unit - be it anything from a commando to a sniper - and lead your forces to take the opposing base. The goal here is to level up your hero enough and he is nearly unstoppable. Panzerkrieg lets you take control of a single tank and have tank duels and capture strategic points. The novelty of the game type quickly wears thin and you will probably be back on the other two types after a few games.

And that’s it. You are probably wondering at this point - where is the rest of the game? This is not to say that Tales of Valor is not a decent game - it is and fans of the series will be happy with their purchase. The game just simply does not work as a fully retail priced standalone expansion. It would be better served as DLC for Company of Heroes. Newcomers to the series should definitely try out the original and the first expansion before moving on to Tales of Valor. Even with the dubious pricing, the game is enjoyable and worth a look.

Orbital

Set on a space tether, Orbital is the only map currently on Halo 3 set in space. Orbital consists of two U-shaped corridors that overlap each other making the map seem a bit disorienting at first. Power weapons on Orbital are the sniper and rockets - each placed at the bottom of the Us. Most of the action, at least in the beginning, occurs at the bottom of each U near the power weapons. Good use of grenades and teamwork will get you out on top early.

Assembly

Assembly takes place inside a Covenant Scarab Factory and has a Midship vibe to it. If you can stay out of the action long enough you can see a Scarab being assembled right above you. The only power weapon on the map is a gravity hammer in the middle, besides that it’s just you and your BR. Assembly is a perfect Slayer map, but also supports objective game types.

Sandbox

Sandbox is set in the desert with setting and scope similar to Sandtrap but the forging capabilities of Foundry. This map is every forger’s dream come true with three areas to create maps — one in the sky, one on the ground, and one in the crypt. Every weapon, vehicle, and piece of equipment can be placed on Sandbox. New forge objects have been added as well - they include a seven wood(golf club), golf ball, and a tin hole. Gamers should expect great maps to be forged in the coming weeks.

Overall the maps are a great addition Halo 3. Each map offers something different and unique; especially Sandbox. Gamers will have no trouble finding matches as hundreds of thousands of gamers have purchased them. Which leaves you. What are you waiting for?

Story

Taking place shortly after the events of Butcher Bay, Dark Athena puts you adrift in a ship that is soon captured by a merc-controlled vessel named Dark Athena. Once onboard the merc ship, your main objective is escaping. Being that the game takes place primarily on a ship, there is not a wealth of enemy types. In Dark Athena, the primary enemy are drones - captured humans that the mercs have turned into mindless military machines. During gameplay you can seize control of the drones and use the gun that is fused to their skin. While doing this does make Riddick immobile, the control aspect opens up a climatic game sequence later in the game.

As you move through the ship you come across a prison area that becomes your main hub for the first part of the game. The prisoners assign quests in exchange for helping you escape. While the game has some interesting characters, overall character development is lacking and you never fully explore any connections made in the game. Completion of the side quests allows Riddick to escape the ship, and moves the game down to a nearby planet, and eventually a showdown with the Dark Athena’s captain.

Gameplay

Gameplay in the first half of Dark Athena is reminiscent of everything that was good about Escape from Butcher Bay. No other game does hand-to-hand combat quite like Dark Athena and Escape from Butcher Bay. Weapon variety in Dark Athena is skewed toward hand weapons, and there is a decent variety. The best hand weapon is the ulaks, which are brass knuckle-like and have razor sharp blades attached to them. Armed with ulaks you can perform a variety of stealth kills and counter attacks. Some of the best moments in Dark Athena can be had while performing stealth kills on unsuspecting enemies.

The second half of Dark Athena marks a sharp change in gameplay style - going from stealth-action to that of an average shooter. Weapon variety in the shooter phase is characterized by the normal slate of submachine guns , assault rifles, etc. Riddick does have access to a mining weapon called a SCAR. Using its ability to shoot projectiles and detonate them in groups of five, you can easily beat the game without having to swap weapons. With the introduction of the SCAR and unlimited ammo, Dark Athena quickly turns into your everyday run-of-the mill shooter.

Technical

Dark Athena boasts impressive graphic and sound design. Starbreeze does a great job creating a well-detailed universe with good character and facial animations. Sound design is as good as it gets, especially the voice-overs with Vin Diesel leading the way as Riddick. The remastered version of Escape from Butcher Bay also makes the move to HD. While it has aged well boasting impressive lighting and shadows, you can still tell it was developed originally for the Xbox.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer makes its first appearance in a Riddick game with Dark Athena. You can expect the ever-present multiplayer modes of Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. For uniqueness the developers added in a mode dubbed Pitch Black, which pits one player as Riddick against everyone else playing as mercenaries. Riddick is equipped with ulaks, and the Mercs get a variety of gun choices including sub-machine guns, shotguns and assault rifles. While Pitch Black is fun, the novelty will quickly wear off. With the lack of a strong online community, gamers who are looking for the next great multiplayer game should look elsewhere.

Conclusion

Overall, The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is a decent game. The first half keeps the gameplay that made Escape from Butcher Bay such a hit, but falters a bit during the second half when it turns into an average shooter. If you’re a fan of the original, you should definitely pick up Dark Athena, and if you haven’t played the first one yet, you owe it to yourself to at least rent it.

Boredom. It can strike even the most hardcore gamer. It happens to the best of us - sitting on the couch, staring at the consoles and gaming pc, pondering which game to play. Shooter? Racing? MMO? Strategy? Whatever the choice, it’s got to be a good one, promising hours of entertainment and replay value. Here at Gamer Discord we strive to ease the pain and suffering and list ten great standby titles to play when boredom strikes. Make sure you add your favorites in the comments and we will create a user-generated list in the coming weeks.

Left 4 Dead

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about zombies from years of gaming and watching movies, it’s that zombies really aren’t that scary. They’re painfully slow and dumb as hell, and while they look ugly, they can’t inflict any serious damage. That’s simply not the case with the zombies in Left 4 Dead.

With Left 4 Dead, Valve has taken the zombie apocalypse genre and has done something nobody saw coming. Valve created a zombie game that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire game. Admittedly, we weren’t on the edge of our seats - we were standing 3 feet in front of the TV, shouting into the microphone, yelling at our teammates to focus their fire on the tank chasing us all over the screen. Of course, this was just in the spirit of cooperative play which is, after all, Valve’s primary objective in Left 4 Dead.

The game’s story revolves around four humans who are somehow immune to the zombie virus and are desperately trying to carve their way through the undead hordes using any weapon they can get their hands on. You and three of your friends get to take control of these humans, and try your best to keep them alive as you travel from safe room to safe room.

Bored of being the good guy all the time? In Left 4 Dead you can opt to be one of several different kinds of special zombies, such as the aforementioned tank. As a zombie, you hunt down the human heroes, whether they’re player or AI controlled, and use your special attacks to shred them to pieces. Boredom isn’t a threat while playing this intense zombie slaughterfest. Stay tuned in late April for Xbox 360 and PC DLC.

Halo 3

If you haven’t played Halo 3 yet, you’ve either been hiding under a rock for the last year and a half (maybe from the Left 4 Dead zombies?) or you’re one of the people who haven’t tried it yet under the assumption that any game selling more than 9 million copies must be a fad. Whatever your reason is, it’s time to take a step back and look upon Halo 3 with fresh eyes.

Halo 3 is an epic science fiction first-person shooter that picks up right where Halo 2 left off. Halo 3 caps-off the series, feeling much more polished than its previous instalments. With near-perfect attention to detail, a mood-perfect musical score, and a fully developed AI, Halo 3 proves again to be the preeminent shooter on the console. However, you don’t play the game just because it looks pretty, you play it to get your adrenaline pumping. Add in the satisfaction of sticking your best friend with a plasma grenade from across the map and you have a solid experience.

Whether you play games for the single-player experience or intense multiplayer action, Halo 3 won’t leave you wanting. You can play through the campaign mode with up to three other people, or you can turn to fighting each other across Halo 3’s oft-copied online matchmaking system. Halo 3 offers a solid single-player experience, but where the game really shines is in multiplayer mode. With three sets of DLC and Forge, Halo 3 offers hours upon hours of replay value.

Empire: Total War

We’ve been playing the Total War games for a long time now. When the series was first introduced in 2000, the terrains had little geometry and troops were simply animated 2D sprites. The series has come a long way since then, and Empire: Total War is currently the marquee title of Creative Assembly’s Total War franchise. The game is a combination of top-down civilization-style strategy and full-scale warfare that simply has no comparison.

The recently released Empire: Total War has already garnered significant media attention and positive reviews. The game deserves the critical acclaim it’s receiving because of its evolution into a war game that puts you in charge of thousands of men, each of whom you can zoom in on and watch fight for himself. The scale of battles match up solidly with historical events and let’s players command full armies set in the war-torn 18th century.

A new addition to the Total War franchise is the inclusion of fully playable sea battles. While nowhere near as refined as land battles, ship-to-ship combat does add a new layer to the gameplay mechanics and should excite fans of the series. If piloting 18th century frigates does not grab your attention, the option remains to auto resolve the battles.

The mechanics that govern how you maintain your empire are greatly improved from previous Total War games. Instead of micromanaging each city, Creative Assembly added a feature where you can set tax rates for your entire empire with a single click. Overall the new feature set makes the series more accessible to newcomers to both the series and the strategy genre. With multiple factions, differing victory conditions and a robust multiplayer, Empire: Total War is sure to please strategy enthusiasts for months to come.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

Easily one of the most acclaimed series ever, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare pushed the franchise further into the lexicon of first-person shooters. With a sharp departure from the backdrop of World War 2, Modern Warfare takes you into a modern setting, battling separatists in the Middle East and an ultra-nationalistic party in Russia.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare features an engrossing story alongside memorable missions that include manning the weapons of an AC-130 gunship and probably the best sniper mission ever created in a video game. Infinity Ward loaded the game with details that make the weapons and locations look and feel like their present-day equivalents. Boasting impressive cinematics and scripted events, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare’s single player immerses players from start to finish.

Perhaps more than any other area, Modern Warfare shines in its multiplayer action. The game features a unique RPG-style system of upgrading weapons and levelling. As you rack up kills with each weapon, you unlock additional parts and features specific to that weapon, such as a grenade launcher, a grip to reduce recoil, and sights to improve aiming. If your aim is deadly enough, you can go on to attain differing camouflage patterns on the gun by getting a set number of headshots. Once you reach the highest level, that’s not the end of the line. You can choose to prestige through 10 levels, offering hours upon hours of replay value.

With its spectacular gameplay, multiple multiplayer challenges, and 10 levels of prestige, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will keep you busy for months to come–until Modern Warfare 2 comes out.

Killzone 2

For years critics and gamers alike have criticized the lack of quality titles on the PS3. Early last year marked the turning point with titles that included Metal Gear Solid 4, Resistance 2 and Little Big Planet. Sony looks to continue its success with the recently released Killzone 2, which after riding years of hype, has emerged as the premiere title for the PS3.

First thing you will notice when you launch Killzone 2 is the graphics. Boasting one of the most impressive lighting engines to date, Killzone 2 stands head and shoulders above other comparable games to date. If you’ve been waiting for the right game to come along to show off the PS3’s powerful hardware, this is it.

Killzone 2 isn’t just a pretty package; the gameplay contains everything you’d expect out of a modern-day first-person shooter. While the controls do have a learning curve, it’s not a deterrent of the overall game. Weapon design is polished and the in-game mechanics create situations where one is more useful than the other. In addition to the weapons, levels are well thought out with impressive cut scenes tying the action together.

For next-generation consoles, multiplayer is where the true action resides. Killzone 2 offers a distinct multiplayer experience, combining multiple game types into one match. Offering up to 32 player matches, multiple classes and numerous perks, the action is sure to be frantic. With recently announced DLC, the PS3 has finally found an answer to the stable of Xbox 360 shooters in Killzone 2.

Overall, each of these titles offers months of gameplay, be it with their impressive single-player experience or their expansive multiplayer option. Still Bored? Stay tuned in the coming days as we add five more games, ranging from Burnout Paradise to World of Warcraft. Feel free in the comments or on twitter to add the titles you play when boredom strikes.

Editor’s Note: Part Two

Grind Yard

Set in the ruins of an industrial complex, players find themselves positioned to fight on a battlefield littered with abandoned cars and run-down industrial equipment. Power weapons include a boomshot inside a central tower and a flamethrower on an elevated walkway on one side of the map. Control of these power weapons is crucial for success. Submission, Execution and Warzone matches shine on Grind Yard.

Under Hill

Under Hill takes place inside frozen tunnels leading outside to a bridge. Players who control the bridge get the mortar and sniper while players going through the tunnels get grenades and a flamethrower. The map seems a bit unbalanced at first with the mortar spawning at the bridge as teams could camp there and keep getting the respawns. The only time I could see this being a problem is on King of the Hill matches. Expect intense Annex and Guardian matches on Under Hill.

Courtyard

Easily the most visually impressive of the maps, Courtyard is strewn with broken statues of former leaders and decaying buildings - all covered in snow. From the spawns, players have two paths to take: One leading to the mortar or sniper, and the other leading down to torque bow or boomshot. There are also grenades in a hallway underneath the top of the courtyard. Courtyard is my favorite of the new maps with great graphics and excellent gameplay.

Fuel Depot

Epic brought back a fan favorite from the original Gears of War. Fuel Depot remains largely the same except for a dose of winter weather and upgraded graphics. Gameplay-wise, the only thing different on Fuel Depot is that a mortar now spawns where the Hammer of Dawn used to. Players who played the original Gears of War will remember Fuel Depot well; there is a helipad on one side and the warehouse on the other. Most of the power weapons can be found near the warehouse. While Fuel Depot is an old map, it’s still a good one offering great Warzone and Execution matches.

Conclusion

While nothing innovative, this new map pack does extend the multiplayer replayablility of Gears of War 2. This map pack will please all Gears fans, whether they enjoy Objective, Elimination or Horde game-types.