Independent video game developer Hidden Path Entertainment today announced that it would be partnering with 505 Games to bring its game Defense Grid 2 to multiple console platforms.

Defense Grid 2, which is the sequel to Defense Grid: The Awakening, is like its predecessor, a tower defense game; it was originally announced for a late 2014 release for PC, but now it will also be hitting the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4.

”505 Games has partnered with us at Hidden Path and is providing a great opportunity for next-generation console players to experience our vision of the definitive tower defense experience. We’re so excited to work on a game we love and bring it to additional platforms with such a like-minded publishing partner,” said Jeff Pobst, project lead for Defense Grid 2

“Our goal at 505 is to be a publishing partner that lets studios retain their creative independence and that is exactly how we intend to partner with Hidden Path in order to bring Defense Grid 2 to market,”said Ian Howe, president, 505 Games. “Hidden Path is the perfect partner; they are experienced industry veterans developing a top-quality tower defense game that we both cannot wait to get into gamers’ hands.”

Stay tuned for more information.

Hidden Path Entertainment have revealed that they have found an investor for Defense Grid 2, and the game is now under development. They have met the required funding and have informed their Kickstarter fans as well.

“Through the DG2 Kickstarter campaign we were able to not only raise money and make more Defense Grid content, but we created a shared engagement around the project with thousands of backers for several months.  The excitement, involvement, and passion that the community displayed around Defense Grid directly helped us engage an investment partner and make DG2 a reality,” Jeff Pobst, CEO at Hidden Path Entertainment said.

If you have any feedback for the game you can sign up on the forums here and stay up to date on the latest news and ask questions to the development team.

Here’s the description of the game:

Gamers will battle to protect their power cores on multiple locations throughout DG2. They’ll have new and familiar towers at their disposal as they beat back both new and established threats. Hidden Path Entertainment is happy to announce the addition of both cooperative and competitive multiplayer game modes as well as user created content support.

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

The Age of Empires series is very close to my heart. I’m not going to say how much impact it had on my childhood because that’d probably bore you, but if you’re interested in it, my Age of Empires III retrospective delves into that a bit.

"Did this need an HD reboot? For AoE fans, the answer would have been an unanimous yes."

Steam has been seeing a bit of renaissance lately and when Age of Empires 2 HD was announced for it–much to everyone’s surprise–those repressed memories became so lively.

Did this need an HD reboot? For AoE fans, the answer would have been an unanimous yes. However, the game is priced at $20, and considering this was a game that was released a decade ago, it is a bit on the higher side. So they need to justify it with additional features, right?

The original game was released at a time when PC gaming was at its best. This series defined the entire strategy genre and presented players with a rich and fulfilling gameplay. In fact, you will find tons of people who will say that they grew up with the series.

Age of Empires 2 is also regarded as the best AoE game by many mainly due to the sheer amount of content it had and a fantastic campaign, which teaches you a lot of history. The studio that made these games has unfortunately been closed by Microsoft, but the last game they shipped–Age of Empires 3–was personally one of my favourite games.

It’s hard to imagine that there won’t be more AoE games in the future, but revisiting AoE 2 in high definition does bring a bit of joy. It would have been nice if the game actually had additional content to complement the release, but the main campaign does stand out due to the nostalgia factor.

Seeing Joan of Arc, in her majestic Paladin, just makes me happy that I played this game when it came out, since it influenced me so much and made me love the genre as well. The remaster contains the expansion as well, and that’s a good thing, really. The remaster does not really have a lot of extra content as mentioned above but the population cap has been increased, since it was absurdly easy to hit the limit earlier.

The visuals, while in HD, don’t really seem all that different. I mean, I guess after having been exposed to so many great current gen games, playing something so old yet so fresh, tends to stick out a bit more. The game works perfectly on Windows 8, and all you have to do is boot the game from Steam. It has Steam Achievements as well along with a bunch of other things such as dual monitor support.

The core gameplay part will be familiar to RTS players. You have to collect resources and engage in a game of rock, paper, scissors, and counter enemy units properly and exploit their weakness. There’s also a great emphasis on micro-management, as that’s what sets a skilled player apart from an average one.

"The major disappointment of this version is the fact that the multiplayer seems really broken at this stage spawning errors and generally lag that you probably may have seen during the zone.com days."

This is also the game that has the British Longbowmen–one of the best units in any video game ever. Of course, that’s purely my opinion but raining a bunch of arrows on your enemies is a satisfying thing. Beware of the Paladins though, they will make short work of them, and thus the rivalry between the British and the French becomes really memorable.

There are 14 civilizations for you to choose from, and you can select any of them and play a Random Map or Regicide mode. You can, for example, even do all the things you did in the original games like spawn that insanely cool car that destroys armies, or resources. This version has largely been untouched and the only thing that makes it stand out is the crispier visuals and some minor settings.

The major disappointment of this version is the fact that the multiplayer seems really broken at this stage spawning errors and generally lag that you probably may have seen during the zone.com days. This is something that really ruins the whole experience because multiplayer is the thing that will keep the game alive for many months.

This needs to be patched ASAP because at this stage, it’s something that really drags down the entire value of the game because $20 isn’t a small amount for a game that was released ages ago. No pun intended.

It’s still something you should probably buy if you want to revisit the wonderful campaign in HD. The nostalgic value is immense and if you are an AoE fan, this is a no brainer. However, people who haven’t played the previous games will probably get frustrated with the multiplayer but still the game is recommended because it’s something I believe every gamer should play.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Age of Empires 2 HD is set to release this year on Steam and will be priced at $19.99. The game has been remastered to HD and a lot of new features have been added to the game.

The original reveal didn’t explain this in detail but now we have an idea of what you can get when you buy the game.

If you have an original CD key for the game you can’t use it with the Steam version, you have to directly purchase it. There’s no cross platform multiplayer service with the original version and the Steam version.

The single player can be played in offline mode but you will still need internet access for multiplayer and need to connect to Steam. The game also supports cloud saves.

There are no plans for a Mac OS or Linux versions and the game will be available on any region that Steam is supported.

Here are the matchmaking details:

• Up to 8 Players
• Quick-match Matchmaking
• Game Lobby Browser
• Invite your Steam friends to custom games

You can read more on the official blog here. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

The latest update has been released, which includes two maps (de_vertigo and ar_monastery) and a wide range of fixes to known, and an overhaul of the matchmaking for the Classic Competitive mode. Check out the video above, and sound off on whether the fixes are worth the trouble.

It is a perfect example of timeless gameplay, where skill and hand to eye co-ordination reigns supreme. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, which is also available for the consoles, was met with much skepticism when the beta launched. However, you can’t really fault the classic formula of Counter Strike which, much like Einsteins Theory of Relativity, is simply faultless.

Too much hyperbole? Nah. It may look like your hitbox is gigantic compared to the guys you are trying to shoot; you may think that the game is unfair and people have better pings; you may think that you are simply not good enough for the game, but just one good game can totally drag you into this addictive pit, consuming all your time.

The game, running on a modified Source engine, looks pretty decent. Visuals were never the strong point of this engine, however, that could change soon as Valve embraces next-gen with an unannounced game and a new version of Source engine. This is a game where gameplay reigns supreme, and visuals are just a bonus. I wouldn’t care and so should you. That said, some of the maps do look quite good with good attention to detail.

Veteran Counter-Strike players will recognize all the maps which have made a triumphant return here, and that’s one of the advantage of using this engine, porting is short and sweet. Having played CS 1.6 a lot, I wasn’t lost here at all and there was hardly any learning curve for mastering them. However, newer players need to go through everything again, memorize the maps, learn the weapon patterns, recoil, player movements, money management before becoming competitive in this game.

It’s not easy, and no one said it would be. It’s Counter-Strike after all. High learning curve aside, there are some good tutorial levels which eases new players into the game. You can also play offline with the bots and it’s one of the features which will give a lot of experience to players who are new to this style of gameplay, and may barely escape from being butchered online. That may still happen to anyone though. It’s purely skill based and also depends on how stable your network connection is.

There are a lot of maps here — 16 in total — with all your classic maps re-imagined along with  bunch of new ones. Some of them are only available in certain modes. Dust and Dust 2 are bomb defusal based, and Office for hostage rescue. Some of the new ones like Bank and Baggage are well designed and look pretty nice too. There are plenty of weapons and gear available which is expected, and mastering their recoil and other minute details is key to having a successful competitive game online.

Performance is rock solid, as you’d expect, but I had a few problems with the audio de-syncing regularly. It must be an issue with my PC I feel since I haven’t heard anyone else encounter the same thing. There is a matchmaking system too, which is horrible, and places you in high ping games mostly and sometimes doesn’t work. Hidden Path Entertainment did a good job in adding a lot of features here but a shame about matchmaking, though, here’s hoping they fix that later.

Server browser is still the best, and no one can change my opinion on that. New and veteran Counter- Strike players are advised to use that to search for games as it’s the best way to have a satisfying experience, or you can always play with your friends — based on where they are located, the ping advantage can’t be overlooked.

Having played the game on PC for quite a while, it’s amazing how far we have come especially considering the advancements in Steam–Valve’s digital distribution platform–and it always surprises me, in a good way, since the nostalgia of playing CS 1.6 all those years ago is still strong.

This is an amazing game and offers some incredibly satisfying gameplay. You may die frequently but that isn’t going to make you rage quit, because the reason you died was your enemy had a good aim (and a good connection), or you simply suck. Don’t get discouraged though, keep playing, your next game could unlock your hidden potential of playing like a pro.

This is a highly tweaked game, easy to learn and difficult to master. It’s still the Counter-Strike you know and love, slightly modified without causing the fanbase grief, and with the goal of expanding the player-base. We don’t really see games where gameplay is the only thing that matters, you should be happy something like this exists.

This game was reviewed on the PC.

Yes that’s right folks! Counter Strike on consoles. Surprised? Well don’t be, because it already made an appearance on the Xbox. Valve has announced a latest version of the game named, Counter Strike: Global Offensive. It will be available on PSN, XBL, PC and Mac early next year.

“Counter-Strike took the gaming industry by surprise when the unlikely MOD became the most played online PC action game in the world almost immediately after its release in August 1999,” said Doug Lombardi at Valve. “For the past 12 years, it has continued to be one of the most-played games in the world, headline competitive gaming tournaments and selling over 25 million units worldwide across the franchise. CS: GO promises to expand on CS’ award-winning gameplay and deliver it to gamers on the PC as well as the next gen consoles and the Mac.”

The game is being developed by Seattle based Hidden Path Entertainment with some help from Valve. The release date is scheduled for next year. You can visit the official Steam page for more information.