Age of Enigma: The Secret of the Sixth Ghost
Walkthrough (PC, Mac)

Welcome to the Age of Enigma: The Secret of the Sixth Ghost walkthrough on Gamezebo. Age of Enigma: The Secret of the Sixth Ghost is a point-and-click adventure game played on PC and Mac created by Casual Box Studio. This walkthrough includes tips and tricks, helpful hints, and a strategy guide to how to complete Age of Enigma: The Secret of the Sixth Ghost.

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Age of Enigma: The Secret of the Sixth Ghost
Review (PC, Mac)

Gamezebo Rating:

Age of Enigma: The Secret of the Sixth Ghost puts you in the role of Ashley, a young woman who has been having unsettling dreams about an old house. Then one day, she gets a letter that leads her to the house from her dreams. Here you are greeted by a shadowy figure named Nathan, who tells you that you are a medium and that you must help the six ghosts trapped in the house find peace and redemption.

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Hard Reset Preview (PC)

In the only remaining human city of Bezoar, army veteran Major Fletcher is drawn into a conflict between two of mankind's greatest enemies. He is soon to discoer that nothing is what it seems to be. Learn more about Hard Reset, an indie first-person shooter launching next month on Steam.

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Poor chickens: Hands-on with Choplifter HD

It's been awhile since we've seen a game in the Choplifter series, about seven years if my calculations are correct, with the PlayStation 2 title Choplifter: Crisis Shield. So you're forgiven if you thought the classic series -- which made its debut in 1982 for the Apple II -- fell off the map.

Well it's back, thanks to developer inXile and its upcoming downloadable title, Choplifter HD. This updated take on the classic sticks closely to the original formula: a side-scrolling game that has you completing rescue missions in a combat helicopter. According to the game's lead designer, Jairo Silva, staying true to the original was key to inXile's vision. Silva tells me they even spoke with original Choplifter designer Dan Gorlin in an effort to bring the original vision -- limited by early-80s technology -- to life on current generation hardware.

Built on the Unreal Engine, the first thing you'll note about Choplifter HD is that, well… it's high definition. The original flat, sprite-based chopper of the classic is replaced by fully rendered three-dimensional choppers. But despite the jump from 2D look to 3D world, Choplifter HD sticks to its side-scrolling roots. 

Using the left analog stick, you can move the chopper up, down, left, or right. Choplifter HD will feature three aircraft types -- the light, fast Sparrow; the larger, slower Raven; and the Navajo. In the early demo inXile brought to PAX, only the Sparrow and the Raven were playable. Each had individual stats, strengths, and weaknesses, which made using them feel dramatically different. The Sparrow was quick, but small, only able to hold a handful of passengers. The Raven on the other hand was heavier, quite slower than the smaller chopper, yet had more than double the number of seats. 

Since you'll be facing resistance on your missions, it's fortunate that you've got a machine gun and missiles on your side. Aiming a laser sight with your right analog stick, you'll be able to take out enemies with a limited number of missiles and put holes into everything until your gun overheats. While you'd expect to take fire from the sides in the 2D-scrolling shooter, inXile has added enemies into the foreground, as well. Tapping the left or right bumpers on your controller, you can turn the chopper and fire into the frontline. While it was easy enough to move the chopper up, down, left, and right, this foreground shifting mechanic took a few moments to get used to. But once I got the hang of it, I was quickly turning my chopper in all directions, giving any opposition what for. 

While the main goal of many missions is pick up and transport (yes, you can land on and kill passengers if you're not careful), inXile is switching up missions in a number of ways. In one, I had to drop off and then protect an agent as he ran into a building to plant explosives. After doing this in three key buildings, the location of hostages were revealed, opening up the second set of goals towards mission completion. Other mission variants could include timed objectives, and there's even something involving zombies that inXile isn't ready to tell us about just yet. 

In one of the three levels inXile brought to PAX, I ran into a familiar face: Duke Nukem. Landing next to Duke, I found that he wouldn't get in my helicopter. Apparently, it wasn't up to his standards. But Silva tells me that choosing the right chopper, Duke may hop in. Other videogame characters are set to make appearances, as well, including Super Meat Boy. 

Another thing to note: chickens are not safe in Choplifter HD. I landed my chopper in a crowd of chickens, causing them to startle and scatter. As they did, they got caught in the blades of the helicopter with expected results. (Yes, you'll get bonus points for this at the end of your missions.) Poor chickens. 

Choplifter HD is scheduled for a fall release for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and PC. 

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Counter-Strike: GO is all about that skill rank

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is easily my most anticipated shooter. Modern Warfare and Battlefield will both do phenomenally this fall, but GO will definitely be my shooter of choice when it finally drops; in Valve time, of course. One of the most exciting aspects may be the skill-based matchmaking.

"If you're playing against PS3 players, that just means that they're as good as you"

Jim got with Valve writer Chet Faliszek to see just how things are coming for the long awaited sequel.

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Max interviews James Ohlen and Gabe Amatangelo
for SW:TOR

video details and more

Max starts off the talk with a bit of basic overview of Star Wars: The Old Republic with James Ohlen. Everything considered, The Old Republic is apparently bigger than every past BioWare game put together. That is massive. James even goes on to say that there is more voice over in The Old Republic than every game that's come out this year combined. Okay, now that's just overkill. But anyway, Max got some info on Hut Ball, your own starship, space battles, the huge library of vehicles in the game and tons of other info you won't want to miss.

The more I see The Old Republic, the more I just want to get my hands on the damn thing. Oh well, there's a ton of other titles I can play until it lands. But after it does come out, I will probably never touch another game for a very, very long time.

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Max Scoville demos Lollipop Chainsaw

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Suda51's newest game project, Lollipop Chainsaw, was at PAX and Max Scoville got a chance to play it. There are lollipops, a chainsaw-wielding cheerleader, rainbows and zombies. 

A quirky, fun game in which you kill zombies with chainsaws and pom-poms. If you have not been paying attention to this game you should probably start. Expect Lollipop Chainsaw some time in 2012 and remember, words can be weapons.

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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ... is
Counter-Strike!

If you were at PAX and you met someone who played Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, they will describe it in one very simple way -- it's Counter-Strike!

Seriously, that's all you really need to know. It's obviously better looking, it's clearly reaching a wider audience, and it's destined to have plenty of fresh content, but at its heart, this is a game that knows exactly what it is. It's Counter-Strike!

It's as simple as that.

While Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 duke it out, we're seeing a refreshing revival of "old school" first-person shooters. Hard Reset and Serious Sam 3 are bringing us classic run-and-gun violence festivals, while Global Offensive is going to bring us back to a world where online gaming was less about kill streaks and more about running about, shooting the crap out of each other. 

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive sits at the root of online shooters. There's no cover system, there's no manual sprint mechanic, there are just terrorists and counter-terrorists, with guns at the ready. Valve was very keen to point out how those players brought up on modern shooters were failing -- criticizing those who stood still in a shoot-out and praising those who understood the concept of fast-paced, unsubtle action. 

Each play session lasted four rounds of elimination deathmatch, and those rounds whizzed by swiftly. GO is the kind of game to play when one wants quick bites of action, rather than a four-course meal. That's not to say it's unfulfilling, of course. It's elegantly simple and provides the instant gratification that we all need from time to time.

The game looks pretty damn decent. No, it's not graphically stunning like Battlefield 3 or full of setpieces like Modern Warfare 3, but it's a significant visual upgrade using the faithful Source Engine. Ultimately, GO is a game that doesn't need to look lavishly gorgeous. It's a game that just gives you a gun and tells you what to shoot. 

So yes, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is indeed Counter-Strike. It's not a huge reimagining, it's not a gritty reboot, and it's definitely not planning to reinvent the wheel. With a franchise that has been adored for over a decade, though, who really wanted that? This is Counter-Strike, prepared just the way you like it.

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Roads of Rome 3 Review (PC)

Gamezebo Rating:

Just how often can Rome be in danger? With Roads of Rome 3, the new release by developer Realore, players might start to feel like Sisyphus doing the same work over and over again. In the vein of its predecessors, the game allows players to rebuild various Roman settlements that have been destroyed by barbarians. The result is a game that?s entertaining but that doesn?t break much new ground.

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O-G Sokoban Review (PC)

Gamezebo Rating:

With these puzzle games the interest derived from playing them is not what the game gives you to work with but what it holds back and limits you on. In Tetris the pieces fall randomly; in Bejeweled jewels can only be swapped horizontal or vertically, Mahjong tiles need to be picked up in pairs and be ?free," and so on. O-G Sokoban hinges its gameplay on that limiting factor as well, but could have benefitted from a greater sense of challenge.

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