This Week in Xbox: May 28-June 4, 2008

Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars™ arrives on Xbox 360® this week, bringing some exciting strategic first-person-shooter action. It features the hyper-fast action you're used to from the QUAKE series, and adds some spectacular vehicular combat on land, in the air, and on the sea. Each army has its own set of weapons, technologies, and vehicles. Though the game is designed around multiplayer, the missions feature the progressions and multiple goals you'd expect to see in single-player campaigns. For instance, you might have to successfully deploy behind enemy lines, hack a shield generator, and then destroy a couple of key Strogg Stroyent production sites. (Stroyent is like Strogg Steroids. And it's made of the same stuff as Soylent Green. <Homer>Mmmm, people…</Homer>)

Get into the battle in Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars.

The bargain of the week has to be Lost Planet™: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition. It's a Platinum Hit, so it will cost you just under 30 bucks. But it's not just a chance to play the hit 2007 shooter. There's tons of new stuff here, including cross-platform play against Games for Windows opponents, new single- and multiplayer game modes, new multiplayer maps, new characters, new weapons, and the ability to swap between first-person view and a Resident Evil-style over-the-shoulder perspective. This is a killer deal for fans and newcomers to the series alike.

Do you Sudoku?

Arcade by the Numbers

Numbers fans rejoice! Sudoku has finally arrived on Xbox LIVE® Arcade, in the form of Buku Sudoku™. Of course, the basic numbers game is the same one you're used to playing with paper and pencil, but the Arcade version adds HD graphics, informative tutorials, multiple grid sizes, and something you don't get with the paperback Sudoku books: multiplayer modes. Multiplayer support is for up to four players offline and up to eight players via Xbox LIVE. More casual players can play cooperatively with friends and family, while competitive players can engage in an active duel where the player's performance directly impacts the opponent's puzzle. The game features multiple audio/video themes, over 1,200 puzzles, and three levels of difficulty.

Have fun storming the castle.

Another Atari classic arrives this week as well. The game that introduced the concept of "deathmatch" to electronic gaming, Warlords™ offers single and multiplayer action as up to four players battle to protect their fortress from attack, while battering down their opponents' fortress at a frenetic pace. Defend yourself from incoming fire with your shield and smash your enemies' defenses by firing flaming balls at them, or blast a hole through and bring their Warlord tumbling down along with his castle walls. You can play with the original retro graphics, or in the new Evolved mod with updated 3-D visuals. Play it local, or over Xbox LIVE.

That's All, Folks!

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Article by Denny Atkin