Wargame Airland Battle is one heck of a niche game, mostly because it combines two other niche genres into one of the niche-iest strategy titles out there. It works as a standard wargame strategy sim but you set up your units by literally building a deck out of them. For all of its strategic granularity the game also looks pretty too. Check out the trailer below to get a look at the graphics and deck-building mechanics. The game will be out in the next couple weeks on May 23rd.
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2K and Firaxis Games have recently released the first video in a new series for Civilization V's next expansion Brave New World.  In this video, we get a sneak peak at how culture and tourism can help lead you to victory.  You can meet new people and obtain famous works of art and music, plus the new Archeology system helps boost tourism as well as you dig up stuff from past events.  If you're a fan of Civilization V, get ready to Enter a Brave New World in July 12th.

GameStop stops taking your PlayStation 2 as a trade-in next month, EVE Online shared its tenth birthday with Orson Welles, and EA just announced The Sims 4 for 2014. By the way, if you were to buy The Sims 3 plus all of its expansions right now, it would cost you $539.78.

What are you playing this weekend?

Russell Archey | staff writer | Twitter @neoscyther
I'll be spending more time with Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move. So far I'm kind of liking it as it doesn't control like the past games. In fact, it's kind of like Pipe Dream, of all things. It's a different way to play the series and requires a different strategy than the past games.

Sean Cahill | staff writer | Twitter @seancahill2
Now that my semester is over and I have a lot more free time outside of work, I'll be kicking Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen into high gear. I've been going back to Tomb Raider to try and knock that off the list (47 percent complete) so it can go on the completed stack. Outside of that, I might indulge in some World of Tanks while testing out a couple new mice and a headset.

Nathan Carter | staff writer | Twitter @natedoggcata
I’ll be putting in some more practice with Injustice: Gods Among Us. I started playing Hawkgirl who is now my anti-Solomon Grundy, Deathstroke and Aquaman spam weapon, and I have Green Arrow and Harley Quinn as my backups. I’ll probably be playing some more Zombie Tycoon 2, which is a really fun real-time strategy for consoles. I have never been a fan of RTS because, for me, it’s usually clicking a bunch of boxes that fill your screen and I have no idea what is going on. Zombie Tycoon 2 simplifies all that, and what you have is a very fun and addicting game. Finally, I am about two years late to the party but I actually picked up and started playing Dragon Age 2 which I really enjoy. Now, I never played the first game. Why does everyone hate Dragon Age 2 again? Doesn't seem like anything is wrong with it to me. 

Nathaniel Cohen | staff writer | Twitter @seven_hells
I'll be spending some relaxing time on Far Cry 3’s Rook Island, stabbing dudes, getting inked, and popping hallucinogenic substances. Other items on my to-do list include more Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, and spending some quality time with System Shock 2.

Sean Colleli | staff writer
I'm in full-on review mode for Zeno Clash II, so I'll be exploring the world of Zenozoik for the most part. I'm also wrapping up my reviews for all the cool tech Nyko released for the Wii U, so I'll be revisiting my modest Wii U library for some final testing.

Jeremy Duff | senior staff writer | Twitter @duff3c
Along with Mike, you can make that two for Metro: Last Light. I love this franchise so much. And Mike, the second one is just as lovely. I have a preview build on the debug Xbox 360 with the first couple of hours of the game on it. You're in for a treat.

Travis Huinker | staff writer | Twitter @travishuinker
I plan to spend some quality time with Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and hopefully set some time aside for playing the recently-released Neverwinter with John.

Charles Husemann | editor-in-chief | Twitter @chusemann
Another week a bunch more MechWarrior Online to play. I've gone whole hog with a long-range missile boat build and I'm working on tweaking it so that I can safely deliver the "rain of pain" from a distance without taking any direct fire.

Randy Kalista | staff writer | Twitter @randykalista
One of two things is about to happen. Either 1) I square away my EVE Online account and start turning Gaming Nexus into gameEVE nexONLINEus as far as coverage is concerned--John loves this idea--or 2) I flip through my recent shopping spree of Xbox Indie Games and start bashing them into my face one at a time: Snops Attack! Zombie Defense, qrth-phyl, Kodu Game Lab, radiangames Fluid, Arcadecraft, and Quiet, Please! I somehow managed to avoid the top 20 most downloaded, all of which have the word "miner" in the title.

Mike Mahardy | staff writer | Twitter @mmahardy
I'll be playing Metro: Last Light. Metro 2033 is one of my favorite shooters of this generation, so I can't wait to dig into 4A's sequel, especially since they have creative license to deviate from the book's story now. Other than that, I'll be putting more time into Injustice: Gods Among Us and Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon.

25 years ago in the classic graphic novel The Killing Joke, The Joker shot and paralyzed Barbara Gordon right in front of her father. Now its time for a little payback. Netherealm Studios has released the first gameplay video showing off Batgirl who will be coming to Injustice: Gods Among Us as DLC. 

Thankfully it appears that Batgirl plays differently from Batman. She appears to be faster than Batman and uses more dashing attacks such as an anti air shoulder tackle, batarang projectiles and a teleport grapple move that can be used at full screen. It appears also as if her super move can only be activated while in the air, which is interesting because I believe that would make it the only super move to do so out of all the characters. 
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Batgirl will be available free if you bought the seasons pass or $4.99 if you buy it individually. No release date has been announced yet. 

We also got a glimpse of The Joker's Killing Joke skin which will be part of "The Killing Joke Skin Pack" which will be sold separately. 

Publisher Sega and developer Creative Assembly have announced that upcoming strategy game Total War: Rome II will launch globally on September 3 across all territories, which also includes both the physical and digital versions. Players that pre-order the game will receive launch day downloadable content, titled Greek States Culture Pack, that adds three additional playable factions to the game including Epirus, Athens, and Sparta. Each of the factions feature unique units, buildings, victory conditions, and even their own tech trees.

Also revealed alongside the release date includes an over-the-top Collector's Edition of the game that will be limited to a run of 22,000 numbered copies. The Collector's Edition contents are enclosed in a leather-effect presentation box that contains a gold logo and magnetic closure. The contents include:

• Numbered copy of Total War: Rome II - The most ambitious and expansive game in the Total War series to date, Rome II brings the statecraft, politics, intrigue, diplomacy and epic battles of the ancient world to life in thrilling detail. This version comes in a debossed Steelbook case, laser-etched with your unique collector’s number in Roman numerals.
• Tabula set - The Roman forerunner to Backgammon, this Tabula set comprises 30 bone-effect game pieces supplied in their own burlap drawstring bag; the board itself is built into the base of the Collector’s Edition box.
• Tesserae Dice - Three replica bone-effect dice for use in a variety of games. The design is based on original Roman Tesserae, found at the archaeological site of Herculaneum. 
• Total War Cards: Punic Wars - Designed from the ground up to echo elements from Rome II, Total War Cards is a game of skill and luck for two players. Involving combat, territorial control, resource management and technological development, Punic Wars consists of 58 high-quality playing cards and a game-board printed with the Punic Wars tech-tree.
• Canvas Campaign Map - A reminder of the world you must conquer, this ribbon-tied canvas map depicts each of the 57 provinces of the Rome II campaign.
• Roman Onager - A complete, fully-functional Onager, or Roman siege catapult. This easy-to-assemble kit is constructed from weathered wood and steel, measures 26cm x 12cm x 12cm, and is capable of unleashing small projectiles at a variety of inanimate objects which may have affronted the glory of your empire.

The complete list of retailers selling the Collector's Edition can be found on the Total War: Rome II website. Total War: Rome II will be available on September 3 for Windows PC.

• Manhunt coming to PSN next week. The Warriors coming soon after
• New screens emerge of Final Fantasy X-2 HD Remaster
• Skyrim and Dead Island collide in Hellraid teaser trailer
• The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing livestream tonight!
• First images of The Wolf Among Us
• EA eschews Online Pass for Fuse?
• Saints Row IV PAX Demo, now for the world to see
• Thunder Wolves trailer and screen shot explodeganza
• Make your choice: brawns or beauty? [Dragon’s Crown]
• Dead Or Alive 5 Ultimate coming soon?
• Nintendo Download for May 9, 2013
• Now Loading: Audio Edition for 05/09/2013
• Free DLC inbound for Soul Sacrifice
• Wargame AirLand Battle beta now contains ten on ten multiplayer
• OUYA's release date gets pushed back three weeks, button defect fixed

The PS2 classics section of PSN just keeps getting better and better as Rockstar announced that two of their most underrated gems of the PS2 era are coming to the PSN soon.

Next week on May 14th, the gritty, stealth action game Manhunt from Rockstar games will be available for $9.99. 

I am extremely excited about this. Sure, Manhunt may be well known for its brutal and realistic violence but underneath that is one of the best stealth games I have ever played. I thought that it was very unique with the use of security cameras and a mad man forcing you to kill tons of enemies so he can film another snuff video to sell to you sick freaks out there. It was one of the first games I played where the violence actually made me sick to my stomach and that's what I loved about it. 

In even better news, one of the most underrated games of all time in my opinion, The Warriors will also be making its way to the PSN store at some point. No release date has been announced but Rockstar stated in their official news post that Manhunt "will also soon be joined by The Warriors - stay tuned, Boppers..."

 

Techland Games, the developer behind open world survival title Dead Island, recently announced Hellraid, a medieval hack-and-slash game with cooperative mechanics.

Aside form the melee combat, Hellraid showcases magic attacks and weapons in its new teaser trailer. The world and enemies are reminiscent of Bethesda's Skyrim, but the gameplay mechanics look just as crisp as they are in Dead Island.

Techland is also promising strong cooperative aspects, something they excel at, so be sure to check back at GN this summer for more news regarding Hellraid.