“A couple of years ago we had the discussion of: ‘Should we do Halo at launch and not do Halo 4 last year?’ But I was committed to getting Halo 4 done last year, and there was no way we were going to turn around with 343 a full Halo game in a year. So that was the plan we set on. I feel good about that.”

And while each game takes a while to release, Spencer defended this, stating that, “Unlike some franchises that manage through 1,000 people, Halo is 343 and that team obviously has tight control. They are our Halo team.

“A discussion around having a Halo game at launch – a true Halo at launch, meaning like a Halo 4 or 5-size game – would have been something we’d have had to start two or three years ago. We had the discussion, and we thought having Halo 4 come out when it came out from 343 and having them really land their first full version of Halo that they developed internally would be great for the 360 customers, great for 343 in shipping something.”

Are you satisfied with being able to play Halo 4 at the cost of a next-gen Halo for the Xbox One’s launch? Let us know in the comments below.

But the publisher isn’t done yet. According to Microsoft Games Studio head Phil Spencer in a short response on Twitter:

@TheLocksus Yea, we still have exclusives to reveal.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) July 1, 2013

There is a chance we could see titles like the next Banjo-Kazooie and Gears of War along with a new Fable. However, there’s also a chance that Lionhead Studios and Rare could be bringing out entirely new IPs for the Xbox One.

As for where these exclusives will be revealed, our money is on Gamescom. Expect a few announcements before then as well. Which exclusives are you looking forward to, or wish that Microsoft would announce?

But really, with a voice like that in the trailer? How could any one resist?

Of course there’s a lot more to the game, including competitive and cooperative multiplayer along with a level editor that allows you to create your own maddening, death-trap filled mazes. These levels can be made for any game type and shared with friends.

BattleBlock Theater is currently available on Xbox Live Arcade, exclusively on the Xbox 360 since Microsoft Games Studio is publishing. With the amount of praise it’s been receiving, it’s well worth checking out.

The same mix of brutality and tactical combat returns, buffed up by larger numbers of enemies and unique mission objectives in between chapters delivers a new challenge to veterans of the franchise. The same characters, with their mix of over-the-top macho heroism and gritty survivalist fundamentals, keep you engaged one minute with their witty banter and the next with their tragic circumstances. So it’s a new Gears of War game all right – but is it an entirely new game?

Not really, but the amount of content goes beyond the mere tag of “add-on”. In fact, it could be argued that it’s perfectly justified in its pricing, packing enough campaign and multiplayer material while expanding that ever depressing Gears lore further.

The game starts with Damon Baird, a lieutenant, being court-marshalled along with members of Kilo Squad. Told in flashbacks, you’ll be commanding different members of the squad and recalling the story through their respective POVs. Each new chapter consists of several segments – one could have you playing as Sofia Hendrick, a COG Onyx Guard cadet, while the next has you playing as Augustus Cole, the former Thrashball player turned insane soldier.

But the most interesting new character is undoubtedly Garron Paduk, a former URI soldier from Gorasnaya who joined the COG after the Emergence of the Locusts. Sure, he may stink of Russian stereotype but he turns out to be a rather solid grey character that you can’t help but root (and feel sorry) for.

We won’t spoil the story for you…heck, People Can Fly/Epic Games don’t want to spoil it either. Why else would they tell it in flashbacks? Of course, those flashbacks serve another meaningful gameplay purpose – they allow for certain “extra” testimonies to find their way into the actual mission. Known as “Declassified” segments, they have each member describing a unique situation or activity that occurred in their fight against the Locust.

Those activities manifest themselves in the gameplay. Each mission has one Declassified setting that allows you to significantly up the difficulty and change the circumstances of the mission. Perhaps you want to take on double the number of Locusts? Maybe switch the normal Locust out for a swarm of Ragers, a new enemy type that turns red and immediately charge you with berserker like strength and speed? Every kind of challenge and twist imaginable comes into play: a fog of war distorting your vision, reduced health regeneration, starting with no ammo, reliance on a set weapon (that may also have no ammo), and much, much more.

Toggling a Declassified setting has a deeper purpose – it helps in collecting Stars, which go towards levelling your character and unlocking weapons and such to customize your load out in multiplayer. It’s a great incentive and hardly ever feels like extra work. Just rewards on top of the already rewarding gameplay.

That doesn’t mean you won’t be facing your classic Gears of War watercooler moments. One moment you could be reliving Normandy; the next you’re trying to prevent a Normandy beach landing. Other moments include taking on an actual Berserker or targeting mortar locations. The game is definitely well-balanced and for all those times it can be tough, there’s always another strategy for success.

Of course, this is because every single mission has more or less been relegated to some kind of variant on Horde. You’ll be defending against enemies, holding a section off against enemies or just commandeering a mortar launcher against enemies. See a pattern there? The enemies are always coming to you, as you hunker down in a single spot and prepare to defend, at times more literally than others. Of course, you’ll still be barrelling down corridors and piloting a Silverback to tear through entire waves of Locust defences. But at its core, the game throws as many enemies at you as possible with the Declassified segments providing a little zest.

So the key question: Is it fun? Hell yes it is.

Whether you’re mastering the new URI semi-automatic rifle, which the Ragers modify into the Breech-shot, or taking advantage of a new grenade launcher or just laying into enemies with the Lancer chainsaw, Gears of War: Judgment has the classic gameplay down pat.

It’s amazingly intense and blood-pumping; the increased number of enemies helps add to the insane panic caused by the Locust forces during E-Day. On their own, Locusts with One-Shots, Boomers, Diggers, Ragers, Tickers, Grunts and Grenadiers may not be too tough but entire swarms of them? It’s as awesome as it is challenging.

Increased enemy numbers aren’t the only thing that Judgment does well. This is the apocalypse, and People Can Fly wants you to know it. Remember the destroyed beauty of the other Gears games? Here, you’re actually seeing civilization crumble around you. There are plenty of explosions, but you’ll also be seeing Sera in a completely new light.

For all its wars and tragedies, it’s much like our own world. And the complete and utter annihilation of humanity, as well as the slaughter of those who survived the initial attack, is emphasized far better than in any Gears of War game to date. Really, for all of its flaws, it’s amazing that Unreal Engine 3 can still crank out visuals like this so long after its initial introduction.

Now for the bad news. Remember how we said that it could be argued that the game was perfectly justified in its pricing? None of the other Gears games needed that kind of argument – they always went above and beyond with the amount of content provided. However, when you factor in both parts of the campaign, Judgment and Aftermath, you should be able to clear the single-player in less than 7 hours on Normal difficulty. Then again, playing on Hardcore didn’t make that much difference to length.

There’s also the fact the Horde is gone and replaced with Survival and OverRun. On the one hand, OverRun sounds exciting but it has to be played with friends. The single-player version of that is Survival, where you’re on the COG side and must defend objectives while repelling Locust attacks.

The different character abilities are cool but more than Horde, it emphasizes the fact that you need real team-mates and team-work to effectively succeed. If Horde mode relies on a no-holds barred approach and effective strategy coupled with supreme movement to defeat enemies, then Survival depends on how well you can defend an area.

And with bumbling AI team-mates, who try but ultimately leave it up to you to guard an E-Hole, and lack of upgrades or additional weapons, you can bet it won’t be for long if you go it alone. At its core, Survival is fun; it just sucks when that fun is cut short irrespective of your performance.

If it were any other game, we’d be wary in saying if the Campaign mode alone is worth the price of admission. However, by effectively combining great graphics with interesting mission variants and larger enemy numbers, not to mention overhauling multiplayer (just remember the “multi” part if you want to properly enjoy it), Gears of War: Judgment succeeds as a strong third person shooter that can teach most modern games a thing or two about compelling gameplay mechanics and controls within a short but sweet play-length.

Just remember: It’s not Gears of War 4 by a long shot. The sooner you get past that, the sooner you can enjoy Judgment for the side-story that it is.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.

The pack includes three new maps such as Daybreak, a military facility situated in an expansive mountain; Outcast, which features the outdoors and canyons of an alien landscape; and Perdition, a city-like area. ForgeWorld is also rumoured to be returning with the map pack, so there’s also that to look forward to.

We do know that the Castle Map Pack be retailing for 800 Microsoft Points. If you pick up the Wargames Map Pass, you can pick it up along with the Crimson and Majestic map packs for 2000 Microsoft Points. Also, make sure you savour this one, because this will be the third and final map pack for Halo 4.

Maybe that means a newer Halo is closer than we think? It could never hurt to dream, even if it’s wild hallucinating.

Source: GamePillar

He talks about how the game’s plot demanded a new approach to the visuals. “The other Gears games were post apocalyptic. It was all about the destroyed beauty. In this game, it is the apocalypse.

“The beauty is being destroyed. There’s a lot more fire, smoke, collapsing buildings, just a much more active environment. Once you go down that path, you’ve got to find some tricks.”

“We’re pushing way more enemies, way more particles, the environments are a lot more dense than on previous games. Our rendering engine, we’ve even added a few new features that allow us to do richer lighting, more dynamic lighting, darker darks, brighter brights.”

But it paid off. “It’s the most colourful Gears game ever, which feels weird to say. But I think it also has the richest darkest mood out of any Gears game since the first one. So yeah, it was all hands on deck optimising this thing, we squeezed a lot more out of it.”

But when it comes to next-generation hardware, Brinck feels that, “Yeah, there’ll always be something more we can figure out, do better.” So while the current generation isn’t quite dead, the next generation will provide its fair share tweaks for new games.

A company representative simply stated that, “Microsoft Studios is no longer pursuing this title. We have no further details to share at this time.”

Matter was showcased at E3 2012 and showed a futuristic landscape with a metal sphere travelling through. It was meant to be a case study in emotion, both in cause and effect, with the the sphere and landscape forming an active control surface which Kinect could create.

Check out said trailer below and let us know what you think. Based on that, are you disappointed that Matter was cancelled? Or is it just one of those games that wasn’t meant for the big time?

Firstly, it reveals that there 40 (maybe more) Declassified missions that can be completed – these same missions put a difficult spin on the normal missions, but up the amount of stars you can earn. Then there’s the apartment fire escape that the girl is standing on – it immediately echoes back to a similar environment from Gears of War 2.

Finally, we have the dropping Cog during the third Achievement reveal, with the lovable canine also having a Cog name tag on its collar.

Best of all? Pay real close attention and you might catch one of the more important enemies within the game.

Head here for more details on Gears of War: Judgment’s second campaign, titled Aftermath.

Given the so-called impact that piracy is having on the entertainment industry, you wouldn’t find many game designers happy with the idea of their games being leaked head of release. Especially if it’s a title like Gears of War: Judgment.

And while lead level designer Jim Brown, in conversation with GameSpot, isn’t totally okay with it, he still feels that, “From my perspective, that tells me people are excited–that they want to get their hands on the game, which is a good thing, right? I think that’s ultimately going to be good for us.

“I’m trying to look at it from the perspective of, ultimately, that if somebody is that interested that they feel the need to do that and risk their entire life, well, okay.”

The rest of Epic may not share that enthusiasm as, “Obviously people are upset about it.” But according to Brown, the leak is “covered, it’s taken care of. Things are happening.”

Let’s just hope that enthusiasm really does translate to good sales, rather than eating into Epic’s profits when Judgment releases on March 19th for Xbox 360.

Designed and programmed by Dodrill alone – with help for the soundtrack, voice acting and some story parts – the result was a gorgeous and highly addictive platformer with elements of Devil May Cry-combat and Metroidvania exploration.

It seems that a sequel will be appearing for Dust at some point; however, it won’t be Dodrill’s next project. He stated as much after a question posed by AnalogAddiction on Twitter:

@jamieaa I’ll definitely do a sequel at some point, but it won’t be my next game.

— Dean Dodrill (@NoogyTweet) March 3, 2013

So on one hand: More Dust! Hurray! On the other: Just what is Dodrill working on? And will it take another three and a half years to develop Dust? Will it be on Xbox 360 or feature on other consoles as well?

Regardless, Dodrill has become a force to reckon with and we can’t wait to see what he has in store. Meanwhile, check out our review for Dust: An Elysian Tail.