Considering Fable’s legacy and Lionhead Studio’s reputation, I was expecting something a little more substantial than what Fable Heroes ended up being: a two-button beat ‘em up clearly aimed at children. But even kids will have more fun with Castle Crashers or Crimson Alliance, so why bother? The gameplay in Fable Heroes is overly simple with linear levels, repetitive enemies, uninspired and obnoxious power-ups, and a leveling system that relies too much on chance. You roll the dice and move around a board after each level to determine what you can upgrade. Seriously. This Mario Party theme is taken a step further when, at the end of a level, you can choose to fight a boss (but don’t; they take forever to kill) or play a mini-game (don’t do that, either; they’re pretty dumb). What’s left to look forward to, then? Even if the simplicity of the normal action appeals to you, it’s too hard to follow due to unhelpful camera angles, bright colors that blend together, and the presence of stupid AI teammates who can’t be turned off. Fable fan or not, there’s just nothing here to get excited about.

I’m going to skip the obvious pun, but I will at least say that Awesomenauts is Prettygoodnauts. Like Monday Night Combat before it, this is an online multiplayer game where you must work closely with your team to protect your drones and take out the opposition’s turrets and home base. Here, however, the 2D perspective makes the game more approachable and cuts down on the number of ways to exploit and ruin it. Of course, 2D gameplay also means there are fewer strategies involved. I fear Awesomenauts will grow stale quicker than Monday Night Combat did because of that. For the time being, though, I’m having a lot of fun. The characters are great, and the skills they offer are quite diverse, making it hard to label any one as the clear winner. In fact, I frequently choose “random” at the character select screen, because I know I can’t go wrong. The game puts a limit on how many players can be the same character and even replaces “rage quitters” with AI bots, so you’re never left at a disadvantage. How awesome is that? Oops. Couldn’t resist. But it’s nice to be treated fairly for once.

In a market dominated by blockbuster sequels and unimaginative studio games, Fez is a refreshing reminder of why I love video games.  The game exists for one reason only: to impart joy in the person playing it.  There is no consequence for dying, no boss battles, and very little story to speak of.  The goal is simply to explore a colorful, mysterious world in search of treasure.  What makes Fez amazing is the unique use of perspective.  At its core, the game is a 2D platformer, but it exists in 3D space.  At any time, you can rotate the world to change your perspective, thus realigning platforms and revealing hidden walls.  The 3D world flattens into a 2D playing field once rotated, which enables you to interact with the environment in such a way that doesn’t make logical sense.  And yet it is logical and it does make sense.  That is the beauty of Fez and what caused me to shout out in astonishment on more than one occasion.  Fez is smart, beautiful, and incredibly fun.  It is precisely the game I’ve been waiting for, and I couldn’t be happier.

I can’t tell if I just suck at fighting games or if Skullgirls is particularly harder than most. On the easiest setting, the AI is still a serious challenge! Even the tutorials were difficult to get through, although the problem with them (which extends to the rest of the game) is how you’re asked to remember all of these special moves but aren’t provided with an easy way to see what they are. Future DLC promises to fix that. Better be free DLC… But none of this really matters once you play against human opponents with the same set of skills as you. Good luck getting matched up fairly online, though! You’re likely to get your butt kicked. At least the GGPO engine makes for some smooth online fights. When you do finally fight someone who knows as much (or as little) as you, either online or locally, then Skullgirls is finally a solid and fun fighting game. The gameplay feels a lot like Marvel vs. Capcom, so no complaints here. Not to mention Skullgirls looks absolutely gorgeous. I think I’ve been won over by the presentation more than anything else, but damn… why can’t every fighting game look this good?

How much do you love pinball?  If that question doesn’t immediately instill you with excitement, then move along.  For the remaining pinball fans whose interest I just piqued, allow me to introduce Pinball Arcade. Pinball Arcade is a collection of classic tables from the Williams, Bally, Gotlieb, and Stern collections.  This is surely great news for old-school pinball fanatics, but for the average pinball enthusiast, Pinball Arcade is nothing special.  The interface is bland and a little confusing, the graphics are forgettable, and the music and sound effects are annoying.  Underneath a lackluster presentation, however, Pinball Arcade is loaded with some solid tables.  There are only four included with the game, but they are a lot of fun to play.  Pinball Arcade is a good pinball simulator but certainly not my favorite on Xbox.  It’s hard to give the game a definite recommendation if you already own the Williams Collection or Pinball FX, both of which are superior packages.  So again I ask, how much do you love pinball? If you can’t get enough of it, then you’ll probably like this.

Alan Wake was one of the most fun games I’ve played this generation, so I was pretty stoked for a sequel. Thankfully, American Nightmare does NOT disappoint. You still take command of Alan as he fights for control over reality, facing off against his dark copy, Mr. Scratch, and the army of Taken. I don’t say “army” lightly, either. There are literally TONS of enemies, because this game is much, much more combat-focused than the last one. The good part is that the combat has been given a major overhaul, and Alan has lots of new toys to dispatch his fearsome foes with (sawed-off shotguns, assault rifles, and crossbows, to name a few). He’ll need to use them all to take out some of the new evolutions of Taken that have begun to seep into our reality. Despite the game being more combat-focused, the story is still fantastic and will have you glued to your seat the whole way through. If you actually enjoy the new combat, then there’s also a great survival mode that pits you against the Taken. If you like great gunplay and a wonderful story, you have got to check this out!