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Parkour seems to be working itself into the way video games are designed these days, if slowly. For example, “Mirror’s Edge” and “Assassin’s Creed” both feature it heavily in their gameplay style and make it crucial. Of course, both these games are third-person action titles. Other genres have, understandably, been slow to adopt the free-running style. RPGs don’t need it, it would look weird in an RTS or turn-based strategy game, there’s no competitive sport focused on it and it would be awkward in a fighting game. Then there’s the sci-fi title “Brink,” which attempts to fuse together the first-person action gameplay of the FPS genre with the free-running, near-acrobatic antics of Parkour. So, how does it do?

We’ll get to that later.

“Brink” is set in the future, aboard a floating city called The Ark. Isolated for over two decades, it has become a bastion for the surviving remnants of the human race. It kicks things off with making the player choose a faction – those guarded by security forces and the ones that belong to a ragtag rebellion. However, this proves rather pointless, as there’s very little in the game that is limited by this choice. It is, actually, possible to experience both sides of the story with just one character, rendering the choice moot. A few other details can be determined by other choices, but they don’t really have much of an impact.

The class selection is kind of a let-down. While in most games, picking a class would create a vastly different way of experiencing the game, it isn’t the case in “Brink.” There’s very little that defines one from another, other than sections of the game that require one specific skill set or another. They don’t really play any differently from one another, which makes the selection pointless.

Now, as for the implementation of Parkour, that’s where the SMART – smooth movement across random terrain – system comes in. This means that the character can, with a single button, run on walls or over obstacles in the game world. The overall finesse of this is fantastic and, depending on the body size of the player character, even crazy stunts are possible. It is an immensely enjoyable experience to slide under gunfire to get in close and blowing their face off with a shotgun.

However, while the SMART system is the greatest strength of the game, it is also one of its big weaknesses. This is an FPS, which means that the player’s actual character isn’t visible. This can make it difficult to gauge position while using the SMART system, as well as forget just how big the character is. There’s also no real sense of difference between the sizes in terms of movement – a large character only moves slightly slower than a medium one, for example. This is problematic because it takes away a large chunk of the fun factor of the SMART system and, consequently, a large chunk of the fun in “Brink.”

Overall, “Brink” is an interesting idea mired by awful execution.

Console titles that make the transition to the PC are usually fraught with problems. Console hardware is so different from what one would find on a PC that it can be difficult to really adapt. The gameplay styles that are favored on the PC don’t do well on consoles, either. Still, that doesn’t mean game companies haven’t tried. One of the more recent efforts is “Hydrophobia Prophecy,” an update on last year’s X-Box title “Hydrophobia.”

Set in a dystopian future, the player is put into the role of a reluctant systems engineer Kate Wilson, who has to unveil a terrorist plot and save the passengers of the ship she’s on. The ship, The Queen of the World, contains the corporate heads who have managed to prosper and profit despite the oppressing nature of the world around them. Kate will have to tackle the Malthusians, a terrorist cell that has taken over the ship. She’s actually a very believable, strong central character. She’s also a rare video game female lead that doesn’t need a male lead as accompaniment or use sex appeal to hook players – the industry doesn’t see that very often.

The PC version flushes out the storyline better than the Xbox version does, with extra cutscenes and an additional layer to the plot. This adds a bit more depth to what was otherwise a fairly bog-standard excuse plot. The new story elements make the game more intriguing to play through, with a stronger narrative to tie the gameplay together. It also adds more details to the game’s already grim and violent vision of the future. Sadly, therein lies the limitations of the execution. The ending feels hollow and doesn’t really tie up any of the plot threads that the player encounters. The lack of proper resolution makes all of the effort on the plot feel wasted and more story-minded players might feel robbed of the time spent playing.

Water effects are gorgeous, and the game's physics engine makes full use of the setting

One thing that the game does well is the use of water. With the ship’s hull breached, there are areas in the game where Kate has to somehow manipulate or direct the flow to get past puzzles or gain some sort of advantage over the numbers she’s facing. It can also be something very dangerous, as areas can quickly fill up with water and drown everyone in it. This is nice touch for adding to the cover-based third-person shooter that “Hydrophobia Prophecy” is at its core. The different ammo types available in the game compensate for the lack of different firearms Kate can find, but they’re a limited resource, so accuracy is rewarded.

Everything, from the visuals to the controls to the gameplay, has been improved from the initial console release. This makes the game a lot more entertaining and a lot less frustrating to play. The platforming and underwater sequences have also been vastly improved, making them more enjoyable to play through. However, ultimately, the game is a little too short to maximize all of its mechanical and gameplay tricks. Still, because of all the improvements over the original, “Hydrophobia Prophecies” is definitely the superior version.

Yes, this is one of those games that seems like it should have been made around a decade ago or something along those lines. It is also remarkably odd in its gameplay, because it relies on mechanisms of play that most games that hit the PC those days seem to have forgotten actually exist. Unless you’re Japanese, which then makes this title more reminiscent of “doujin” games (fan-made titles, similar to indie games in the rest of the world, but more established) than titles from the big publishers. Even with that comparison, though, there’s nothing quite like “Frozen Synapse.”

What it plays like is some sort of weird futuristic board game, with a lot of pulsing neon, which gives  the game an 80s cyberpunk and “Tron” feel to the visuals. It isn’t going to get the blood pumping and doesn’t promote twitchy trigger finger gameplay. It plays like a board game and it plays to that core strength: it isn’t about superior firepower, but superior maneuvering. It’s the kind of game that wallows and relishes the near-infinite amount of time to out-think and out-maneuver an opponent that a turn-based game will allow.

Each side is allowed a limited number of units to command, each one defined by the weapon it carries. This makes it familiar territory for anyone that enjoys console turn-based strategy games, like “Advance Wars” and “Tactics Ogre.” Each of the weapons – like the machine gun, grenade launcher, sniper rifle, rocket launcher and more – have different functions and weaknesses, giving the feel of an expanded version of rock-paper-scissors. Each section of the game gives a variety of goals to be accomplished, such as infiltration or defense, that could theoretically be accomplished through gung-ho action, but it’ll be more likely to fail that way. No, the path to success in “Frozen Synapse” is superior maneuvering and strategy, positioning your forces at critical points before the opponent seizes them.

The game's retro-style graphics are refreshing while not being an eyestrain

Despite the guns in the design, this game is clearly a very slow, paced game. The gameplay is deliberate and tactical, giving it an almost chess-like feel. The core of the game and the main path to success involves thinking out and testing as many possibilities as possible before committing resources – a minor gameplay trait that more and more so-called strategy games of the modern era are losing. The strategic emphasis is supported by a robust and user-friendly user interface that is welcoming enough to let the mind not think about just how much depth the game offers – or how brutal the learning curve can be for the unwary player.

The main flaw of the game, however, is its visual design. The old school gameplay is complemented by equally old school graphics, which are guaranteed to turn off fans of flashier games. Another crucial problem, particularly for a game of this genre, is its AI. In a vein similar to many other games out there, the AI gives the feeling of being a cheating bastard unless the player stumbles upon an exploitable flaw in the AI game plan. This can be disappointing, as prolonged play against the AI feels more like figuring out a puzzle than outwitting a strategizing opponent.

Despite the flaws, “Frozen Synapse” is fun for people who enjoy its sort of gameplay. In generations and years past, they made games like this one more often. After a few rounds of “Frozen Synapse,” you might be tempted to wonder why they stopped.

As this year’s E3 drew to a close, many in the game industry have come to wonder if we are seeing the end of this generation’s console wars. If that’s the case, then games coming out now and into the next year or so will be the “last hurrah” for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PS3. If the raw quality and entertainment value of “Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition” is any indication, then the current console generation definitely intends to go out with a bang, not a whimper.

Let’s get one thing straight first. Despite making fans wait for years for it and the company making any number of fighting games in between, Capcom has only now really let loose with a proper sequel to “Street Fighter II.” The insanely-high combo counts and rapid-fire super moves of the “Versus” series was fun and entertaining and still commands a very high amount of competitive play, but they weren’t “Street Fighter.” The “Street Fighter Alpha” series successfully mixed elements of the flashier modern fighting game with the chess-like strategic elements of the old school, but it wasn’t quite up to par. “Street Fighter III” was a step in the right direction in terms of gameplay, but also a few dozen steps back in terms of design – it took that game half a decade to find its niche simply because it felt too alien.

So, does “Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition” for the Xbox 360 do the old “Street Fighter II” justice? The answer is an unequivocal “Hell yes.”

The gameplay has all the hallmarks of the strategic-but-reflexive arcade classic that put fighting games on the map. There are no insanely long combo strings or overly convoluted sequences leading to high-impact moves. There are no pretensions to 3D combat or background interaction. There are no attempts to make the game play at the blisteringly fast pace of modern designs, like “BlazBlue.” Instead, this game gets down and dirty. Move execution, mastery of timing, strategic skill and knowledge of move priority once again take the forefront. Once more, fighting game success is boiled down into a finely tuned science.

The graphics have been amped up, particularly when using powerups

This game also boasts a wide selection of characters, with a variety of techniques and tricks. Ryu is still the choice of veterans and the moderately skilled, being suitable for handling nearly any situation. Ken is still the “shoto-clone” (a nickname fighting game fans use to refer to any character, from any game, that plays like Ryu or Ken) of choice for those that enjoy letting go of the highly strategic gameplay in favor of the occasional burst of berserk violence. Akuma is still an unstoppable engine of destruction that borders on game-breaking. End boss Seth is still a cheap bastard that feels like he belongs more in an SNK fighting game than a Capcom one.

The overall artistic direction of the game is a step up. The “inky” look that started with the original incarnation of “Street Fighter 4” is still there, but with a lot more polish and looking a bit less like a Rorschach test after prolonged play. The interface is cleaner, leading to a smoother experience of beating the living daylights out of the AI or some poor fool on the other side of the planet who doesn’t realize he’s picked a bottom-tier character.

However, for fans who already own the previous version of the game to hit the 360, this may or may not be worth the purchase. There are four new characters, sure, but it doesn’t add anything substantial that a casual player would notice. The hardcore, though, will pick up the improvements – how they’ll react, of course, is anyone’s guess.

One of the core strengths of the “Magic: the Gathering” card game is its design: it is easy to pick up, but can take a lifetime to fully master. The way its mechanics are set up grant a surprising number of nuances and options, allowing players a plethora of choices for fine-tuning their chosen strategies. Every batch of new cards just adds more mechanics and more options. The recently released “Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012” game attempts to capture this feel in the most straightforward manner possible.

It lets you play the actual card game.

“Duels” is a direct upgrade from its predecessor from last year. What this means is that the game enforces all of the applicable rules of the card game itself and attempts to give players an experience as close to the actual game as possible, within the limits of a video game. The cards included are diverse in their level of power and strategic applications, which turns into a solid learning curve in the single player campaign. As the player, one of the titular Planeswalkers, goes through the campaign and defeating other Planeswalkers, more cards of greater power are unlocked.

That’s where one particular feature in the 2012 version proves vastly superior to the original comes in. The first game only allowed the cards to be unlocked and automatically added to existing decks. This took away one of the core elements that made the card game so addictive: deck customization. The new version fixes this, adding in a customization menu that allows players to add or remove cards from an existing deck, allowing them to tweak and alter until it fits their personal playing style.

The user interface is simple and intuitive. There’s a detailed and well-written “How to Play” section that serves not only to introduce players to how to play “Duels,” but also how to play the actual card game. This ties in neatly with the intent of Wizards of the Coast for this game – to hook in new players and teach them how to play. The game also enforces all of the applicable rules of the card game, which means that anyone picking this up to learn it in its cardboard form won’t be completely lost. While “Duels” lacks the two decades’ worth of mechanical complexity and abilities that the cardboard game does, it does present a comprehensive picture of what’s current.

The game features a sharp interface, but a sore lack of cards.

The biggest disappointments would be the small card pool and the lack of a story. With over a hundred thousand cards in the game’s history, it’d be impossible to program a game able to manage the rules interactions for all of them. Instead, a smaller pool was selected to represent what’s current, along with some of the most beloved from the past. For people familiar with the cardboard form, the lack of choices can be stifling at times.

“Duels” teases a potentially intriguing single-player campaign focused on the adventures of Planeswalker characters – Wizards’ poster boys (and girls) for the game. However, the story doesn’t just fail to deliver. It practically isn’t there. The campaign increases the challenge level and opens up new opponents, but the promised plot of the opening video doesn’t seem to exist past that point.

There are some hiccups here and there, such as the game not allowing players to cast spells at certain parts of the turn, but these are generally just going to annoy people who’ve played the cardboard version extensively. The lack of a story is disappointing, particularly since Wizards’ creative team for “Magic: the Gathering” is usually on the ball about this sort of thing. However, the game is still incredibly fun and, while no substitute for the real thing, has just enough of the cardboard game’s addictive quality to be well worth the asking price.

Two decades in development, using the talents and resources of five different companies. A whopping eight game engines licensed for the game. Over nine thousand jokes made at the expense. Twenty awards for “Best Vaporware Game of the Year.”

Finally, the King is out.

For over twenty years, “Duke Nukem Forever” has been the butt of gaming jokes because of its development cycle – a cycle that encompasses three generations of console wars, two generations of gamers and the bankruptcy of what was once one of the biggest game developers in the world. With Gearbox, of “Borderlands” fame, got its hands on the game, everyone said that it was a death knell. There was no way any developer would be able to actually get it out on the market. They said that DNF would be “forever in development.”

They were wrong. What’s worse? Gamers wish they were right.

Back in the 90s, the crass, borderline-misogynistic, consistently in poor taste humor of the game would have made this title a surefire hit. Nowadays, gamers expect more. Part of the problem that DNF suffers from is that it tries too hard to live up to the presentation, but not enough effort was spent on what made the game actually playable.

The original big hit, “Duke Nukem 3D,” was praised heavily by the gaming press because of how incredibly immersive the environments were. Players could spend hours exploring just one level and interacting with all sorts of weird objects. You could find a projector in an abandoned theater and play up a movie or give strippers tips. The very low toilet humor – which included the option to drink out of a toilet that was just blown up – was just icing on the cake, a bizarre celebration of the oozing machismo and distinctly 90s “macho man” vibe that Duke gave off.

They're angry after being in development for 20 years.

“Duke Nukem Forever” fails in that regard. The game is basically one big corridor with a couple of left and right turns thrown in. Progress is linear and there’s not a lot of stuff to interact with, not compared to the old game and certainly not compared to a modern shooter. Instead, players are “treated” to a shooter-on-rails that’s only immersion is the really offensive humor and the shooting. The jokes aren’t even funny anymore and a chunk of them are offensive. Most gamers don’t need to play through an entire level with one-liners consisting of lame rape jokes, not in an FPS.

Some of it might be forgiven if the game was actually fun, but it sadly fails. The weapons are either generic FPS fare or quirky but useless. This game could have been fun if it really was a call back to the FPS titles of yore, when running in with guns blazing and firing on all cylinders was how the gameplay went. Instead, the game attempts to mix that style of gameplay with a health – sorry, “Ego” – system that actually encourages tactical, hide-behind-cover strategy. The end result is a game that doesn’t know how it should be played.

Twenty years in the making and gamers were absolutely sure this would fail miserably. In that regard, and only in that regard, does “Duke Nukem Forever” not disappoint.

The Japanese seem to have a fascination with beautiful female warriors, which are unlikely to happen in the real world. King Arthur (yes, that Arthur) was turned into a girl in the “Fate” franchise. They turned nearly every major historical figure in the Three Kingdoms period of China into an attractive girl in the strangely compelling “Koihime Musou” franchise. So it stands to reason that, at some point, the Japanese would turn even the tools of war into something cute.

Enter the currently not-officially-translated tactical strategy game “Gadget Trial.”

The setting is at some indeterminate point not too far off into the future and the player is thrust into the role of a military officer with an odd task. See, there are new weapons that need testing, known as the E-series. These aren’t your conventional guns and tanks and artillery, however. These are sentient androids in the form of girls, each with their own distinct personalities. The player’s job is to command them in a turn-based strategy system to complete missions against the enemy AI, which usually has some sort of advantage.

In-between the missions, the game treats people to the quirky interactions and scenes that flesh out the personalities of these living weapons. Izen, the infantry unit, is hyperactive and naïve. Nei is the armor division and is reliable and fits the “reliable older sister” archetype. Souka is likely to remind some folks of a cocky fighter pilot, which suits her in her role as the air force unit. Hisoka is the quiet, philosophical naval unit. Finally, rounding out the cast is Yu-ri, who represents the artillery.

Each of the girls fulfills one major role in a full military, subdivided into three specific forms that their unit types can field. Souka, for example, can create duplicates of herself configured to be air-to-air fighters, bomber planes or transport helicopters. The capturing system, borrowed from Nintendo’s “Advance Wars” series, is utilized not only to seize map territory but also to increase resource production, allowing for the purchase of more (and more powerful) units.

The Gadget Trial interface

The player is awarded points at the end of each mission that can be used to purchase clothes for the girls. These alternate costumes aren’t just for show – they have effects on the combat performance of different field units. For example, Nei’s scout vehicle unit has a ninja-themed alternate costume, which decreases her defensive ability but increases the distance she can move in a turn.

The gameplay is very challenging and engaging, taking some of the best elements of the “Advance Wars” series, with just a hint of the complexity of the “Final Fantasy Tactics” series. The cutscenes and dialogues are interesting and fun to read, fleshing out the plot and the characters equally well, supported by excellent voice acting.

Overall, “Gadget Trial” is one of the best examples of 2D turn-based strategy games for the PC that anyone will find; with the only caveat being that it is unlikely to ever see an official translation into English. For those that refuse to let something like localization get in the way, however, there is a fan-made translation patch somewhere on the Internet.

“We’re all a little mad here.” – Lewis Caroll, Alice in Wonderland

More than a decade ago, American McGee used the Quake 3 engine and Lewis Caroll’s classic children’s story to present a twisted, macabre and – frankly – quite mad twist on Wonderland. With its strong platforming elements, uniquely deranged design and a sense of macabre humor, “American McGee’s Alice” became an underappreciated cult hit, drowned in the morass of bigger and more prominent FPS titles that came out at the same time. Still, like all cult hit games, it found and retained its audience through the years, eager to present its sordid and surreal vision of Wonderland to players with the Cheshire Cat’s grin.

Now, after so very long a time, American McGee brings us back.

She's back... and she's not happy about it.

Coming out later this month is “Alice: Madness Returns.” Set a decade after the end of the first game, this new one will have Alice set out on a quest to see the true cause of the death of her family in a fatal fire. A decade in the care of a psychiatrist has helped her recover, but Alice must still navigate the twists of the gloomy city of London and then Wonderland itself – still twisted and perverted, reflecting the emotional trauma that still haunts Alice.

Previews reveal that the game still presents one of the most disturbing and macabre takes on Lewis Caroll’s original vision, bringing what was once merely an undertone of weirdness to the forefront. The graphics easily live up to the legacy of the original while still being on-par with anything available today. A decade may have passed, but McGee’s madness-tainted Wonderland still welcomes players with open arms covered in blood. Superb attention to detail and a true knack for the weird push the presentation of the game to a level only dreamed of by the original.

This screenshot show us how far technology has come since Alice first fell down the hole

The gameplay retains its core, being a platformer at hear with interspersed combat. It really brings out the twisted beauty of the game, letting players get lost exploring the wonder of it all. The arsenal at her disposal is as eclectic and odd as the first game. Apart from the bloody vorpal knife she started out with last time, she can also find a pepper grinder that functions as a rapid-fire machine gun. Equally macabre are the enemies that can be encountered, such as teapots moving about on spider legs with a single red eye that looks and glares at the player.

The demo of the game is impressive and finely-tuned, retaining the dark sense of humor of the first game while still retaining the nightmare-inducing madness of a Wonderland gone horribly wrong. It has been a decade in coming, but “Alice: Madness Returns” looks to be well worth the wait.

If there’s one period of Japanese history that has managed to captivate both the Japanese and everyone else, it has to be the closing period of the Sengoku Jidai. To The decades following the aftermath of the Onin War, wherein three successive military leaders managed to finally unify Japan is host to names of legendary samurai like Oda Nobunaga, Date Masamune and Uesugi Kenshin. At the end of the period, it would be the warlord Ieyasu Tokugawa who would lay claim to dominance and declare himself “Shogun,” the military and political master of all of Japan.

Of course, it doesn’t necessarily have to play out that way for players delving into the magnificent and engrossing “Total War: Shogun 2” for the PC.

No sneaky ninjas here: just the fully bloody glory of Japan's medieval shogunate wars

Set during the same time period as its predecessor, “Shogun: Total War,” players are thrust into the closing decades of the Sengoku Jidai period and must select one of many possible samurai clans to control, each one with their own particular strengths and provinces of Japan that fall under their sway. The units available to each are pretty much the same, but the “Total War” series has never been about balancing different armies so much as command and tactical maneuvering. In no other RTS series has formations, positioning, terrain and strategy been at the forefront.

Battlefield warfare isn’t the only arena for players in this game, however. Like the feudal lords of the period, the players must navigate the complexity of samurai clan politics. Economic management also plays a part, with the player tasked with keeping all of the provinces under their control prosperous, its peasantry happy and its economic contribution to the war effort consistent.

“Total War: Shogun 2” drops a lot of the things it added unto itself on its Europe-based games, returning to its roots and focusing on the core mix of turn-based provincial and governmental control and real-time tactical command of battles. Apart from armies and territories, players also have to manage the personalities of their generals and officers, on whose loyalty and ability a clan’s quest for supremacy might hinge.

The people behind this game, The Creative Assembly, have put together one of the best examples of RTS AI ever, basing its tactics and decisions on the principles of Sun Tsu’s “The Art of War” and Miyamoto Musashi’s “The Book of Five Rings.” The result is that each AI opponent, whether in the political-economic sections or in the tactical battles, behaves as closely as an actual feudal warlord of the period as current AI technology can manage.

Overall, the developers went back to their roots and pulled out one of the most impressive games to have come out for the genre. The gameplay is complex and engaging and the AI makes everything a proper challenge and test of skill. The Creative Assembly makes it a point to top themselves with each iteration of the “Total War” franchise and “Total War: Shogun 2” does not disappoint.

Once upon a time, a budget shooter called Serious Sam was released.

The game didn’t have much in the way of a back story, like Half Life, or immersive cutscenes and fleshed out characters, like the beloved sequences and multiple protaganists of the Call of Duty franchise. Instead, the game hearkened back to what first-person shooters were all about: an arsenal of weapons and monsters to shoot. Lots of lots of them.

The formula proved so successful that Serious Sam spawned off four more sequels, including remastered HD versions. This summer, however, Croteam, the makers of the original game, is set to give everything a fresh start with the release of Serious Sam 3.

The Crotia-based game developer has been hard at work on the game, following its initial announcement last 2009 of plans to release a sequel.

That's some serious scars, bro. You mad?

The game will be called Serious Sam 3: BFE, although as of press time nobody has any idea what BFE means. This has spawned countless guesses from Before First Encounter (which was the title of the original game) to hilarious ones like Bludgeon, Fire, Execute (referring to Sam’s bloody interaction with everything he comes across) and Budget FPS Entry (we certainly hope not).

Instead of being yet another sequel, Serious Sam 3 will be a prequel to the very first game. It sets Sam in 22nd century Egypt (don’t ask us how he got there) and pits him in a final stand against the many hordes of Mental’s minions.

Judging from the artwork and screenshots we’ve seen so far, Croteam has done a mighty fine job of conjuring truly terrifying monsters straight out of a 10-year old’s nightmares. Among these are a Hulk-looking monstrosity with a giant stitch scar on its chest, armed with twin rocket launchers attached to the stumps of its hands. If that doesn’t scare you, then try encountering THAT in the office hallway.

The original was refreshing in its reinvention of the FPS genre. It featured blood splashing on Sam’s hands and weapon after a particularly gruesome kill. As a throwback to this glorious game, the prequel will host a new range of melee attacks. And as a homage to the original, the Sirian Werebull and the infernal Headless kamikaze both return in the new installment.

Finally, to top the whole thing off, the game will have a 16-player co-op mode. We imagine many nights will be occupied with beer and furious mouse / button mashing as entire groups camp out and fight the evil hordes till the wee hours of the morning.