We thought we’d take a look at some of the early reviews that have started coming in, just to see what the pros and cons are about the upcoming game. Craig Baker from the wedonetwork.co.uk website gave the Toy Soldiers: Cold War game – which takes place in a number of different settings – an overall score of 93 percent out of 100, describing it as addictively fun.

One added feature that Craig was definitely pleased to see was the co-operative mode throughout the game’s campaign. The only downside in Craig’s opinion is the fact that the Toy Soldiers: Cold War game only comes with eleven levels. Meanwhile, Nick from the gamersaffinity.com website gave the Toy Soldiers: Cold War game a perfect score of ten out of ten.

Nick says that although the sequel plays pretty much the same as the original Toy Soldiers game, it does come with some brand new features that make it stand out a bit more. According to Nick, Toy Soldiers: Cold War is one of the best Summer of Arcade games. Gavin Gaddis from the gamebreakers.co website on the other hand gave the game an overall rating of 4.5/5.

Gavin also describes the game as one of the best Summer of Arcade titles. One feature that improves over the original game in Gavin’s opinion is Wave List Rewind, which enables players to rewind the game back to any of the previously completed waves on the map. The final review comes from Dan Lee at thesixthaxis.com, who gave the game an overall score 9/10.

According to this reviewer, the campaign is lots of fun and the mini-games are extremely addictive. However, he did go on to say that there was a feeling of déjà vu after a couple of hours of play. You can read the full reviews via the links that we’ve provided. Will you be buying the upcoming Toy Soldiers: Cold War game?

As JC Fletcher over at joystiq.com recently noted, the developer has also launched a brand new Crimson Alliance website, although the only thing that you’ll find on there at this stage is the game’s logo. Gamers have the option of either playing the campaign on their own, or with three of their friends.

The Crimson Alliance game – which combines fast-paced cooperative action combat with the element of RPG character development – features 3 different classes of character (the Wizard, the Assassin and the Mercenary), with each character possessing 5 special abilities.

Gamers will also be able to upgrade their character’s special abilities by collecting treasure, as well as finding hidden Soul Anchors. By opting to specialize in specific abilities, players are able to customize their characters to suit their playing style as well as compliment their friends’ characters.

The four-player co-op can either be played locally, or over Xbox Live. The world of Crimson Alliance – which is populated by elite mini-bosses and the minions that they control – features ruined cities, labyrinthine crypts, hidden treasures and deadly traps.

Do you like the sound of the forthcoming Crimson Alliance game?

According to Pete Haas over on the cinemablend.com website, the ‘Overdrive’ map pack is due to be released next Wednesday, June 1st. The new downloadable map pack will add two brand new locations to the multiplayer game. This includes Abaddon and Sky Dock.

The Abaddon map features a power cell facility that’s surrounded by magma craters, while the Sky Dock maps takes place at a military base located in an icy environment. Both of the new maps will be able to be played online and offline in all of the game modes.

For those of you that have not played the first-person shooter game before, Prejudice is the digital-download only sequel to the Section 8 game. In Section 8: Prejudice, players don power suits that let them fly through the air in short bursts, as well as run at high speeds.

Players enter combat through orbital dropships, and have the ability to choose where they want to be dropped on a map. Gamers also have the ability to call down drop pods that contain defensive structures and vehicles while they are in the middle of a match.

The upcoming map pack will become available through Games for Windows Marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade, and will cost you 320 Microsoft Points or $4. Are you tempted to download the new ‘Overdrive’ map pack?

As Mike Jackson at computerandvideogames.com recently noted, although the Guardian Heroes game for Xbox Live Arcade is mostly a port, the HD remake will come with some new features such as all-new modes of play, enhanced graphics and new online co-op and battle modes.

However, the recently released screenshots – which can be viewed at CVG (courtesy of GamerSyde) – have been causing a bit of debate regarding the enhanced graphics, as they don’t look that impressive. You shouldn’t let that put you off the upcoming action-RPG though.

The Guardian Heroes game will enable players to choose one of four heroes to level up, as they guide them along a branching storyline that comes with five different endings. You can either play the game’s Story Mode alone, or perhaps the Versus Mode with up to 12 players.

Guardian Heroes will feature a number of different modes including Arrange Mode, Arcade Mode and even Time Attack Mode. Have you ever played the Guardian Heroes game on the Sega Saturn?

Instead, the new game – which will be released for the PC, Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network on March 23rd – will feature a brand new cast of characters. According to Stephany Nunneley at vg247.com, Atari has now detailed the new characters.

The first character profiled is the leader of the team, Alan Crendall. Although he has no real background in the paranormal, he is practical and hardworking. When things go wrong, he’s always the one with the plan. Next up is Samuel Hazer.

Hazer is an optimistic scientist, whose positive attitude keeps the team’s spirits high. Then there is Bridget Gibbons, who has been described as a tough chick with a fierce determination. Although she doesn’t have any paranormal training, she’s a natural at ghostbusting.

The final member of the team is Gabriel Sitter, who just happens to be the technical genius of the team. Max Scoville from destructoid.com spent some hands-on time with the Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime game recently. Read his preview of the game here.

Along with the launch of Toy Soldiers, Scrap Metal and Perfect Dark, Microsoft will be launching their new ‘Game Room’ hub, this is a free update which will provide a central ‘arcade’ where Avatars can hang out and discover new platform games etc.

These games will be purchasable for 240 Microsoft points, however if you wish to play these on your PC you can get a PC and 360 version for 400 Microsoft points, alternatively you can purchase a single play of the game for just 40 Microsoft points.

The Game Room is set to launch on March 24th, chances are this will be a compulsory update.

Source: JoyStiq

We have now come across release dates for a few of the titles which will be part of this promotion, all of these dates are according to JoyStiq’s article which can be seen here.

Toy Soldiers will be released on March 3rd for 1200 Microsoft points, Scrap Metal will be released on March 10th for 1200 Microsoft points and Perfect Dark will launch on March 17th for 800 Microsoft Points.

Source: JoyStiq