The first images for Borderlands 2, the upcoming sequel to Borderlands, will appear in next month’s issue of Game Informer Magazine. We are going to be treated to 12 pages of exclusive content and screenshots, including how they are going to be changing the mission system to give us a better story. Thank god, because while the first game was fun, the story was absurd to put it lightly.

Borderlands 2 will bring us back to the fictional planet of Pandora. Even though it’s the same planet, there is said to be more diversity in the environments. This is something I thought Borderlands did well. The locations you went to had quite a bit of variety, and I’m excited to see how else they mix things up.

Duke Nukem Forever
Xbox 360 | PS3 | PC
2K Games
Release Date: June 14, 2011

Duke Nukem Forever has had a wild ride. This game had been in development since 1996, herald at many an E3 convention as being the next “groundbreaking” game. The problem was, it never came out.

Developer 3D Realms would occasionally release some pictures or game play footage, but always staved off finishing the game by trying to put whatever was new and popular into it. Imagine someone you know is writing a book. For 14 years they would change it around adding whatever was hot at the moment: zombies, vampires, robots, the book would be a mess, right? This is the situation I imagine Gearbox Software was in when they inherited the unfinished game after 3D Realms was sued by its publisher. The very fact that this game was able to be pieced together into something releasable is a miracle. And that’s exactly what we got, something that feels 14 years old and pieced together. If you think about the game’s history, why would you expect anything less?

The moment many of us have been waiting over a decade for is just around the corner. The release of a new Duke Nukem game! To celebrate the impending release, Gearbox software, the current developer of the game, has sent out a new release trailer. It is ridiculous, as should anything related to Duke Nukem should be. The video is embedded below.

Originally scheduled to come out in May, Duke Nukem Forever will now be released [finally!] on June 14, 2011 for Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and PC, but if you pre-ordered you have access to an early beta.

Also, the game producer has sent out the following information today regarding the pre-ordering for First Access Club Members.

This trailer is the best minute I ever spent. Gears of War 3 gameplay footage, all to the sounds of Ozzy singing “War Pigs.” I wish it was more than a minute long. The game seriously looks Epic (pun intended). There are guys exploding from underground, giant monsters, tiny monsters, and all-out intense fighting. There also looks like their could be some vehicle driving in this here game.

We also get a clue at the story line, it picks up with what was hinted at the end of Gears 2. Marcus’ father is alive, and now, you must rescue him.

Gears of War 3 will be released on September 20, 2011.

Enough listening to me, spend a minute and listen to some Ozzy, you can’t watch this only once!

Gears of War 3
Beta
Platform: Xbox 360
Developer: Epic Games, Inc.
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Release date: September 20, 2011 (full product)

The Gears of War series has been one where I have loved the single-player campaign; it’s got lots of action and is just really fun to play. I have always felt the multiplayer lagged behind other games, especially Halo and Call of Duty. With this said, I was very anxious to try out the final game in the series, Gears of War 3, and see if they had brought their multiplayer up to snuff. Several of my gripes have been dealt with, others not so much. Hopefully they can be fixed before the final build; this is after all only the beta. Here are my long-standing complaints with Gears multiplayer and how they have been addressed.