Red Faction: Guerrilla is one of those life altering experiences for me.. a game where you can freely roam the landscape of a sandbox with all intent and encouragement to maim and destroy property and people. Sure, it sounds a bit aggressive but after playing Red Faction it makes you wonder why more games don’t treat their world so destructively.. I mean, sure there is a bold story of a man revenging himself upon the oppressive government that liberated the people from their original evil corporate overlords, but this is a game that is all about the booms.. like a Michael Bay video game that doesn’t suck (Yes I’m looking at you Transformers!)

Well, if you’re like me and you need even more to do on the martian sandbox then THQ has some good news.. well actually it wants more money but come on.. it’ll make you feel better! Today the publisher revealed that it has three new doses of Red Faction goodness on the way via download.

The press release only really talks about the first pack, which is called Demons of the Badlands and will sell for 800 Microsoft points/ $9.99 via PlayStation Store. The new content will include a new single-player mission arc that expands the game into a new Martian environment. The download is planned for release August 13th, 2009 so that gives us all time to sharpen up our best “Ahnold” impersonation and re-watch Total Recall a few times for good measure.

Oh and since the Total Recall game was utter drek.. you can just act like Red Faction is really a continuation and go looking for Kuato yourself.

Looking for some designer threads for your thugs in Saints Row 2?

Well THQ hears your cries of fashion abandonment and is offering a new Unkut branded download pack for players to further customize their hooligans as the battle for supremacy of Saints Row continues. The add on also includes new tattoo options to further expand the ink options.

While GTA IV gets most of the press, I have to say I really enjoyed the low-brow humor and satire in Saints Row 2 more. The whole driving through the construction zone in a stolen waste disposal truck spraying down a developers half-built homes with feces is still one of the most fun stupid side missions I’ve ever played in a sandbox game.

The Unkut pack is now available for free on Xbox Live and Sony’s PSN store. You can find more images of the Unkut branded clothing at the Saints Row 2 community website.

Nintendo is rolling out its E3 2009 line at noon today. Yes videogames have come up in the world of entertainment, dominating movie and music. Nintendo promises a new leap forward in game control and several new Mario adventures to go with. The Nintendo team is adding more hard core game s to it’s line-up including some developed in house. Keep up with all latest here.
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THQ and Relic Entertainment delivered quite a different Dawn of War experience with the recently released sequel. Not every fan of the RTS series likely found the changes made good ones but one thing you really can’t knock the game for is its outstanding and moving soundtrack. If, like me, you’re a big fan or collector of video game music then you should check out the Dawn of War II soundtrack on Steam. (Scroll down on the game’s Steam homepage to find the soundtrack download link - its a 193MB .rar file)

The collection of 20 songs is available through the download service for free. The score was composed by Relic’s in house musical maestro Doyle W. Donehoo and Audio Lead Jason Ross with contributions by Noah Stacey and Noobie Noobinson. (Yes, I’m pretty sure that last artist is using a pseudonym).

If you enjoy the score or want to find out more about Donehoo’s process and inspiration you can even jump over to Game-OST for their interview. Thanks to Nobuooo for the heads up.

Gamers who are current subscribers to GameTap either for the free service or subscription service are in for a treat this week with American McGee’s Grimm Volume 2, Episode 16 and Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War Gold. The freebie this week is none other than King of Fighters 2003.

Grimm Volume 2, Episode 16: A Christmas Carol: We all know the tale of Ebeneezer Scrooge and how awful, nasty and mean-spirited he was until death and some ghosts made him change his ways. But how would this tale by Dickens have ended if our little vile troll Grimm has his way? Not as nice, I can tell you that much!

Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War Gold Edition: This RTS from Relic and THQ contains the amplified Game of the Year version Dawn of War, as well as its first expansion pack, Dawn of War: Winter Assault, which introduced a new faction, a new campaign, and gameplay tweaks that assure the most balanced and fun Dawn of War experience possible.

King of Fighters 2003: The tournament is back, this time hosted by an unknown patron. But the tournament has sinister underpinnings, and someone, or something, once again seeks the power of the demon Orochi. There’s only one way to bring an end to this sinister plot, and it involves a lot of butt-kicking.

King of Fighters 2003 will be free to play for a week and Grimm: A Christmas Carol will be free to play until Wednesday, December 31 for some nasty Christmas fun. If you have not signed up for GameTap yet, you can do so by visiting the official website where you can look through their many many subscription games and 145 free ones.

Next week: Overlord will be the free offering, so get your mind set for some deliciously evil fun with your little minions.

Nintendo has announced its early 2009 game line up which kicks off with Pokémon Platinum. the popular DS title will hit shelves March 22, 2009.

Other familiar games among the over 100 planned releases are New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis and New Play Control! Pikmin are coming out for the Wii with edutainment title Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, Personal Trainer: Math and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars headed for the Nintendo DS.

More games from the Q1 2009 Nintendo line up follow the break.
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Relic and THQ have released a new trailer for Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War 2 which unveils the game’s all new multiplayer modes. So far, what we know about the multiplayer aspect is that all four races are playable, you get to pick your leader (Apothecary, Force Commander, and Tech-Marine at this point), heroes can level to 10 max and the more points you earn the more gear you get, there will be a three versus three Team Battle mode with co-op features, and strategic points include Power, Requisition, and Victory with resource gathering being an important part of the gameplay.

Relic has been a bit teasing regarding multiplayer details for their RTS, and while they have dished a bit about it–they are keeping a lot of it under wraps for the time being. So if what we do know is any indication of how big and fabulous the multiplayer will be, it looks like gamers are in for a fun ride come release. The trailer posted above should also give you a major idea of what to expect, and it looks like one chaotic battlefield full of death and glory to me.

Dragonica is a 3D fantasy, action-oriented, side scrolling MMORPG developed by Barunson Interactive and published by Ice and THQ here in North America. Also available in China, Korea, Europe and Singapore, it is a free-to-play game with a cash shop feature all sorts of goodies to make the game as immersive as possible.

The game offers a level of combat system wherein you can perform chain attack combos paired up with zany skills. Dragonica also has your standard MMORPG functions like guilds, houses, and parties, but also contains a marriage system, different pets designed to be a mount or battle assistant and fouor different character classes that will further evolve into more than 28 different classes.

To sign up for the game, visit the official website. While you are here though, check out the new trailer for the Dragonica posted below, and the new set of screens that were sent into us today.

Welcome readers to our weekly edition of GameTap Thursday. Not only will you be getting another dose of American McGee’s Grimm Volume 2 this week, but subscribers are in for a treat with the addition of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and Digby’s Donuts. There is also good news for those who have signed up for the free end of the gaming service, because Tomb Raider Anniversary is free to play for one week only.

Grimm Volume 2, Episode 15: The Pied Piper: The Pied Piper has rid the kingdom of its rat infestation, but when the King gets cheap and refuses to pay for his services–the piper leads the kingdom’s children into the river. How much more nasty can it get? Add that dirty little troll Grimm into the equation and find out for yourself.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl: The landmark first-person shooter with RPG elements from THQ comes to GameTap. Set in the city of Chernobyl after a fictional 2006 nuclear disaster, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a “sandbox” style game, allowing players to explore the large in-game world as they please in a non-linear fashion. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has sold over 2 million copies to date.

Digby’s Donuts: Digby has big plans to become the donut king of North America. He’s starting small, though, just one shop at a time. And he’s got a rather…unique mechanism for sorting and organizing his tasty treats. With your help, his chain will soon span the coast, and America will be up to its ears in donuts — that is, unless you drop too many.

Tomb Raider Anniversary: Eidos celebrates ten years of Tomb Raider by reinventing the original Tomb Raider game with an expanded storyline and levels that have been redesigned from the ground up. Lara also has new abilities and tools not present in the original.

Next week on December 18, Grimm sinks his grubby hands into A Christmas Carol which will be free to play until December 31.  As always, for more information on the over 145 free games from GameTap or how to become a subscriber, check out the official website.

I was going to post some of the new screens THQ released for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 today, but since we do not have them loaded up on FileFront yet I thought I would post the video instead. It is much cooler anyway.

The video reveals the members of the Space Marines, the squad you will play with throughout the single-player campaign. today, but this trailer is much cooler because this video reveals the members of the Space Marines, which is the squad you will play with throughout the single-player campaign.

Dawn of War 2 is expected to be released for the PC February 23, 2009.