Review: 'Mortal Kombat' Adds New Modes
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Few video games have outraged anti-violence advocates like "Mortal Kombat," which debuted in the arcades more than a decade ago. The latest version, "Mortal Kombat: Deception," continues the grisly tradition while adding several new modes you wouldn't expect in a fighting game, including &#151; you read it right &#151; "Chess Kombat."
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'The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters' documents an epic rivalry for the top score in an arcade video game. Meanwhile, in 'The Invasion,' those body-snatching aliens have landed. Again.
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New version of hit game gives characters a purpose in life and a chance to pass on their DNA.
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Confirming suspicions, Valve releases a new multiplayer mode alongside the game&#39;s SDK; Steam instantly swamped. When Half-Life 2 was released, many were disappointed that its only official multiplayer mode
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PROVIDENCE, R.I.  - Just as it's time to deck the  halls, along comes a new crop of fighting games for people who  love to deck the brawlers.
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The use of psychic powers adds a novel twist to the action in two new video games.
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Video gamers, finally emerging  from the pixilated haze brought on by last year's bumper crop  of best-selling titles, are now turning their attention to  upcoming releases.
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Tycho:  Having played collectible card games since the original printing of Magic - taking my dishwasher's tips across the street to Dragon Tails to secure boosters for the coveted Arabian Nights - seeing Gabriel take up the pastime has warmed (but not thawed) my black heart.  It's always a portion of myself I've bridled in his presence, kept hidden, suppressed may be the word.  To have him take it up so freely makes me wonder which perversion of mine he'll take up next.    When he started talking about his "Firestarter" deck, whose dancing fires were stoked by a mysterious device known as "The Holon Engine," I began to worry.  The dangers of Netdecking are fairly substantial when it comes to friendly play, a corrosive force that turns friendly pick-up games into ostentatious displays of wealth on par with rap videos.  If you're playing in a competitive venue, building on prior art and making loads of precision purchases is probably your only recourse.  But if you're just playing at lunch, let me be clear:  you are consorting with devils.    I took time over the weekend to hit the level cap in Call of Duty 4, and then just to be sure that I understood what was going on I played for several more hours.  I'm not the most skilled player you will encounter, with a roughly equal number of kills and deaths, but I prefer to think of my work in an assassinative context - the removal of key players at key moments.  Please let me have this.  In the absence of the game's deeply integrated progression scheme, Infinity Ward would merely have created one of the best shooters available today.  It would have staunch proponents, and they would be right to praise it.  Is there a substance within cream that can rise to the top of itself?  This substance has been discovered.  As a distillation of the Infantry FPS, this is right down to it.  This is brutal, unrepentant, bathtub fucking hooch.  It is tight and smooth, it is lethal.  Unrelenting in its intensity, your first rounds - indeed, your first few levels - will be spent without the succor of CoD4's rich rewards for continued play.  But you'll see them on the killcam, every time you go down:  this one has increased health, of course that would help.  This one does more damage.  This one, after he's killed, pulls his sidearm and takes a few final shots.  This one's shots retain more of their damage after they pass through a wall.        You earn these for leveling up, with the experience you gain for every kill, for every round.  You also earn experience for Challenges, which are (collectively) "awesome things that you did."  I completed X-Ray challenges last night for killing people behind walls, which dished up bonus XP - this is displayed with exultant audio and video cues at the very moment of success.  Killing while crouched, killing while prone, taking down an enemy helicopter, this is all gravy.  There are challenges specific to your weapon, as well:  for kills and headshots with that firearm, you travel down an upgrade path unique to that weapon that reveals sights, camouflage patterns, and other tools to customize your equipment.    Watching videos of multiplayer play online, you'll get the impression that it looks better than it does.  It looks fantastic, don't get me wrong, but it's not completely photorealistic.  What it does have is an extremely reliable framerate and excellent level design, so that during the experience of play these fantastic visuals are transmuted into something sublime.  Here's what I mean:  if a friend is over, and they are watching you play, they'll be able to detect flaws here and there.  Level geometry isn't especially fanciful, and blown paper or leaves look a little strange.  But for the player, movement is just right, player models are just right, and the environments are right so that moment to moment everything gels.      As I said on Friday, to bring this thing into the house of Halo is pretty ballsy - but it'll carve out its proper due.  On the Playstation 3, what force could stand against it?  I have a high opinion of Haze, but I've never played it - that's based mostly on my gut.  Call of Duty 4 will fall hard on that system, like shrieking artillery.
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I'm not so good with buttons, especially those that control video games. When I play, it's a full-body experience with a lot of arm movement as I try to move my little guy on the screen. The physical activity does nothing to influence the game, but it's good exercise and provides plenty of amusement to my brothers, significant others and anyone else watching.
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The fastest growing genre in video games is "brain training," a genre no one had even heard of before last year. But it only takes one smash hit &#151; in this case, Nintendo's "Brain Age" &#151; to launch an armada of imitators.
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LucasArts has developed several new techniques to continue to Star Wars saga in the game due this summer.
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But for those in the arcade and gaming industry, the global  unveiling of Street Fighter IV, the first new version of the  classic fighting game in nearly eight years, was a chance not  only to throw a few fireballs down memory lane but also to try  out some new moves.
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CHIBA, Japan  - Lining up for an hour and a half  is a long wait to pick a fight. But for those in the arcade and  gaming industry, the global unveiling of Street Fighter IV, the  first new version of the classic fighting game in nearly eight  years, was a chance not only to throw a few fireballs down  memory lane but also to try out some new moves.
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Now that the new World of Warcraft expansion is upon us, it's time to consider the extras that are yet to come. How about smokin' cybersex, more elves than you can shake a Quidditch broom at, and humanoid tapirs? Commentary by Lore SjÃ¶berg.
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This season&#39;s blockbuster video games give players the opportunity to hijack cars, mow down the walking undead with heavy artillery, shoot police officers and ogle topless women.
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A flurry of new games wing their way to the Wii.
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The latest instalment of the Burnout gaming franchise offers a good mix of speed and attitude.