From start-up, you’re presented with a loading bar, leading to a (pleasant looking) pre-rendered cinematic, explaining Earth’s current plight as they’re invaded by the Strogg, an alien race constructed from other alien races. This is the only real bit of exposition you’ll get and the only reason given to care about defending - or invading - Earth. The rest of the story is left to ‘emergent storytelling,’ the latest buzz words, especially in the arenas of online gaming, as players tell their own stories of how they accomplished a mission, or the funny way another player met their demise.

In this squad-based multiplayer first person shooter, players choose a side - either the alien Strogg or the human GDF - and set off with their team mates to complete a set of objectives within a time-limit, with each team’s objective trying to counter that of the other; the GDF may be trying to build a bridge while the Strogg are trying to stop the bridge being built. The GDF may be trying to get their mobile command centre to a strategic location and the Strogg are trying to stop it. This results in the creation of a consistent battle-line being drawn, so conflict is persistent even on large maps, instead of dividing the battle into tiny, tiny skirmishes, sprawled across the level.

Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

Square Enix’s Dragon Quest V for the DS has kept its footing at the top of the Japanese software chart. After debuting at number 1 last week with 644 000 copies, it sells 190 000 copies this week to retain number 1 with its life-to-date sales reaching 834 000 copies in just two weeks.

The remainder of the Top 10 is dominated by new entries, starting off with the PS2 version of Konami’s Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 15 at number 2 with 84 000 copies and the Wii version new at number 10 with 22 000 copies. Namco Bandai’s Gundam Battle Universe for the PSP drops one place to number 3 with 43 000 copies.

Falcom’s Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki the 3rd for the PSP debuts at number 4 with 39 000 copies and SCEI’s Siren: New Translation for the PS3 is new at number 5 with 35 000 copies. Takara Tomy’s Katekyoo Hitman Reborn! DS Flame Rumble Hyper for the DS enters at number 6 with 32 000 copies while Nintendo’s Wii Fit drops two places to number 7 with 30 000 copies.

Nintendo’s Wario Land: Shake It! for the Wii debuts at number 8 with 25 000 copies while Mario Kart Wii loses three places to finish ninth with 25 000 copies.

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DC Comics and Capcom will be joining forces to create a comic book series based on Capcom’s popular video game series Resident Evil and Devil May Cry.

While details on the new series including the creative team and launch month will only be announced later, we do know that DC Comics’ WildStorm imprint will be publishing both titles.

“We’re ecstatic that Resident Evil is returning to WildStorm, where we have already established deep roots into the mythos of this world,” said Hank Kanalz, Vice President/General Manager for WildStorm. “We can’t wait to continue, and bring a freshness and excitement to the property to match the amazing things they are doing with the game.”

“Dante, Nero and the world of Devil May Cry is a perfect fit for the sensibilities of our studio. We have such terrific inspiration from the anime and games and we intend on meeting the exceptionally high standard of quality that has been set for this.”

The Resident Evil series has proved its popularity by selling over 34 million units since the original game was released in 1996. Chris Redfield returns in Resident Evil 5, along with a new partner, Sheva Alomar, to discover the truth behind a new threat that arises in Africa. Resident Evil 5 is scheduled to arrive on the Xbox 360 and PS3 in March 2009.

Devil May Cry 4 is the latest in the popular Devil May Cry series. The game sees players stepping into the shoes of both Dante and Nero. DMC4 has shifted over 2 million units in the US since it was released in February.

According to Germaine Gioia, Capcom’s Senior Vice President of Licensing “Comics are a critical component in Capcom’s merchandising strategy for our most cherished franchises, as they target the same discerning, loyal fans that care most about these established brands.”

Sony has popped a reminder on SCEA’s PlayStation Blog that PS3 firmware update v2.42 is now available for download.

The update appears to be relatively minor, just “improves the playback quality of some PS3 and PlayStation format software.” But still, good to know.

If you cast your mind back a few weeks you will remember that Fayyaad Hendricks was the lucky winner in our Super Mario Galaxy competition.

Well now that he has had the chance to take the game for a spin, let’s find out what he thought about it. You can compare Fayyaad’s thoughts (below) to Pete’s in El33tonline’s review of Super Mario Galaxy.

Did the game live up to the hype?

It was expected that Super Mario Galaxy would receive good reviews; Nintendo’s chief mascot’s appearance on the Wii has been a well-anticipated game. Thanks to El33tonline, I’ve been able to play around with this game for a bit to see for myself what all the hype was about. I admit that I wasn’t disappointed. Galaxy delivers in terms of sheer fun. But then again, this review wouldn’t be worth reading if all I did was praise the game. Other Mario fanboys have that angle covered. But for completeness sakes, the good points about the game are that it can be consumed in bite-sized, 5 to 10-minute chunks per level, saving occurs frequently, and the levels are, for the most part, varied and designed to a degree to present enough of a challenge, but I’ll get back to this point again later.

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Earlier in the year Core Gaming (Nintendo’s representatives in SA) launched Wii Fit across South Africa. Not content to just see us in action at the Wii Fit launch event, Core Gaming challenged media to participate in the “25 Day Wii Fit Media Challenge.”

Journalists left the event with a Wii and a copy of Wii Fit, which includes the new Wii Balance Board, determined to put the latest health trend to the test. The challenge was simple, improve your fitness and Body Mass Index (BMI) in 25 days, but the rewards were great.

The four media who most improved their Wii Fit Age and their BMI rating would get the chance to donate the Wii review console, a copy of the Wii Fit game and Wii Balance Board to a charity of their choice.

“The plan was to put Wii Fit to the ultimate test,” says Matthew Grose, General Manager of Core Group. “We asked journalists to complete their Wii Fit workout, a programme tailored to their individual fitness needs, for the challenge period, and to report back to us with their findings. We were certain the proof would be in their overall fitness improvement.”

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rAge is just around the corner and if 53 hours of solid gaming sounds good to you then you won’t want to miss out on the NAG LAN.

The NAG LAN takes places at rAge 2008 between the 3rd and 5th of October at the Coca Cola Dome in Northgate. 1 800 Tickets go on sale at Computicket this Friday, the 1st of August. For R250 you get access to the LAN area and rAge expo for the whole weekend.

Gamers stand the chance to win prizes worth R32 000 sponsored by EA in the Battlefield 2 competition. rAge is no longer just the domain of PC gamers, with the first Xbox 360 LAN being held at rAge last year. Join The Xbox Lounge and XBOX-360.co.za again this year and stand a chance to win great prizes and T-shirts in special competitions.

To celebrate rAge El33tonline has eight six month magazine subscriptions to giveaway, four to SACM and four to NAG. Head over to our competitions page for more details or check out www.rageexpo.co.za for more information about rAge.

Midway has revealed Mortal Kombat: Kollection, a special edition box set combining three of the most recent Mortal Kombat releases exclusively for the PS2.

The special three pack will include Mortal Kombat: Deception, Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Mortal Kombat: Kollection will be available this September across the US for $29.99.

“Mortal Kombat has been a pinnacle fighting franchise for well over a decade now and this is an ideal package for fans and collectors in terms of content and price point,” said Mona Hamilton, vice president of marketing, Midway Home Entertainment.

“With the PlayStation 2 still holding the highest market share of any home console, we saw this as the perfect opportunity to offer an incredible value to our consumers as we ramp up for the highly anticipated launch of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe.”

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is expected to be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 this October.

Midway’s Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe pitts famous Mortal Kombat warriors against popular superheroes from the DC Universe for the first time ever.

Mortal Kombat began in 1992 and is now Midway’s leading fighting franchise. The 9th edition in the series promises not to disappoint with two new fighting systems: FreeFall Kombat enables players to battle in mid-air while falling from one arena to the next while Klose Kombat gives players a brutal up-close view of the fight.

The game features iconic fighting arenas from both universes, including Metropolis and Gotham City from DCU and Hell and Graveyard from MK, as well as never-before-seen combo arenas that blend both universes.

Choose a character from the MK or DC Universe, each featuring their own signature attacks and finishing moves, before testing your mettle with the new single player mode. Players will even be able to take the battle online.

The latest characters to join the fight include Sonya Blade and Shang Tsung from MK and Catwoman and The Flash from DC. They join Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Liu King, Batman, Superman and Shazam.

Take a look at the latest game play video to see how the game is shaping up.

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe is scheduled to be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3 across South Africa this October. Head over to worldscollide.com for more information about the game.

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There are just three more days until Soul Calibur IV lands in South Africa, this Friday the 1st of August.

To celebrate the launch, we have two awesome Soul Calibur IV T-shirts and one keyring up for grabs.

Don’t miss the chance to get decked out in true gamers style. Just answer a simple question and your name will be added to the draw.

The clock is ticking and you only have two more days to enter our Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones competitions.

Don’t delay, get your entry in today. Competitions close 31st of July.

Congratulations to Bryleigh Beaumont who walks away with a copy of the Guinness World Record Gamers Edition 2008.

Thanks to everyone who entered the competition and to Exclusive Books, Pavilion for sponsoring this great prize.

What say we test Bryleigh’s knowledge of gaming facts soon to check how her reading is going?

If you didn’t win this time, we haven’t left you out in the cold just yet. We have lots of awesome prizes up for grabs so make sure you try your luck again.

Thanks to everyone who entered our Thrustmaster competition. Congratulations to our winners!

• Ivan Daw – Thrustmaster T-Megapack for Wii
• Marc Crowther – Thrustmaster T-Pack DS Lite for Boys
• Michele D - Thrustmaster T-Pack DS Lite for Girls

Consider yourselves pimped.

Thanks once again to MobileG for sponsoring these great prizes.

Don’t forget to see what’s cooking on our competitions page - we have loads of free stuff up for grabs.

Last week Telltale Games revealed a new episodic series based on the popular Wallace & Gromit franchise.

Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures will be based on the crazy inventor and his trust canine made famous by Aardman Animations. Players will be able to step into the shoes of both Wallace and Gromit, spending each episode exploring, piecing together contraptions and escaping trouble.

The game will combine the storytelling that the Wallace & Gromit series is known for with fun game play and Telltale’s unique TV-style format.

Telltale Games has released a cinematic teaser trailer to give a taste of what’s in store for us. The trailer is rendered with game assets because in-game is not ready to be shown yet. The Telltale Team also confirmed that they are using the same 3D engine that is used in all of their games, they are not using digitally recorded stop animation of clay.

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Microsoft has unveiled the Xbox Live Arcade releases for the month of August as part of its Summer of Arcade.

First up is Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2, which will hit Xbox Live Arcade tomorrow for 800 Microsoft Points. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 is the latest version of the popular retro shooter and includes six game play modes, new enemies, scoring strategies and 12 diverse achievements.

The mind-bending and artistic puzzle-platformer Braid will arrive on the 6th of August. Developed by Jonathan Blow, Braid enables players to manipulate the flow of time. The remake of the classic NES side-scroller, Bionic Commando: Rearmed will be available on the 13th of August, complete with new graphics as well as co-op and competitive multiplayer modes.

Next up is Galaga Legions on the 20th of August. This remake of the classic arcade shooter features updated graphics and table-turning game dynamics. Last but not least Castle Crashers will arrive on the 27th of August. Featuring hand drawn characters and different weapons, players must defend their kingdom and save the princess in The Behemoth’s arcade adventure.

Enter the Summer of Arcade Sweepstakes by logging in and playing the trial or full version of the Summer Arcade game of the week. You stand a chance to win the grand prize, 100 000 Microsoft Points, an Xbox 360 Elite Console as well as Xbox Live 12 month Gold subscription card. Also up for grabs are two second prize packages consisting of 10 000 Microsoft Points and Xbox Live 12 month Gold subscription card and five weekly prizes of 4 000 Microsoft Points.

Please note that this competition is only open to residents of Canada, France, Germany, UK and US. Head over to the official website for more details.