One of the larger differnces between Diablo and Torchlight is the lack of multiplayer in Torchlight. This doesn’t detract much from Torchlight at all though as it’s a great single player experience.

The game takes place in the dungeons below the city Torchlight. You choose between three available classes and decend into the dungeon to do damage, reap the rewards in gold, spells and new items and to gain levels. You can’t customize the looks of your avatar but you’ll soon find new equipment and gain levels that can unlock new abilities that you can choose from.

In Torchlight you can have a dog or cat as a pet that not only keeps you company on your adventures but also picks up stuff, runs back to time to sell stuff and helps you battle your enemies. This is a nice touch to the game. You can fish for magical fish in the ponds to change your cat or dog into different monsters for a limited time.

The graphical presentation in the game has a cartoony style to it and the sound effects work really well to supply ample atmosphere and make you feel quite powerful when you bash in the heads of the monsters with your hammer.

Torchlight can get repetitive fairly quick as you really only have 3 things to do in the game. Adventure hack ‘n slash style in the dungeons below the city, sell your newfound loot in the town or fish for magical fish.

The low price point of Torchlight as well as the good production values makes the game a very viable option if you’re looking to kill some time

The story is simple but keeps you engaged and the character progression, items, capturing cities, questing etc. keeps the same little mini-game fresh.

You spend your time in Puzzle quest doing two things. You move your character around on the map and you fight enemies. All of the fights takes place as a short puzzle game where you have to match three (or more) gems to either gain mana, experience, gold or damage your opponent. You can also cast spells based on your class and level as well as spells that you’ve researched at your Citadel based on captured enemies.

Puzzle Quest is an easy game to get into and to understand. There’s also no real penalty for dying. You can just try the same battle again until you win or pursue another quest while leveling up before trying it again.

The graphics and artwork is surprisingly pleasing in 2D and the whole game has a sort of casual feel about it while still offering enough options and progression to keep it all entertaining and engaging.

>> You can download Puzzle Quest here

On the surface Spectromancer is simple and easy to play. You can either play a creature card that stays on the board or play a spell. That’s the only options, but the vast variety of cards and strategies that you can employ as well as the fact that you’ll rarely play the same deck twice creates a very deep game.

You can either play the single player campaign or play online against a human opponent. The Spectromancer server is always full of people wanting to play, so it’s never taken me more than about a minute to find an opponent online. A game of Spectromancer will take about 5 – 10 minutes depending on how fast you and your opponent plays the cards.

You can check your online ranking at the Spectromancer website and see who’s number one in the world. The matchmaking works well and the online battles will get you hooked on playing Spectromancer.

Spectromancer was realeased in late 2008 and is available on Steam or Impulse for USD 10. Spectromancer is well worth the money and is a really great casual game. I’ve never played Magic the gathering or any other card game and doubt that I ever will, but I’ll definitely play lots of Spectromancer online in the time to come.

Red dead redemption is the closest you’ll get to starring in “Once Upon a Time in the West”. Here’s violent murders, robberies and pistol duels that are just as good as what Sergio Leone would have made.

In Red Dead Redemption you’re John Marston. A classic western movie hero with a raw attitude and an itching trigger finger. You’re looking for your old partner. You’ll decide if you want to play the good, the bad or the ugly in this saga. You make the choices.

Red Dead Redemption is based on the same open world concept as the Grand Theft Auto series from the same company. But it has it’s own style and flair. A couple of hours in the saddle and you’ll realize that the game is unique in its own way.

The graphics are fantastic. Long open vistas, rock formations, swampy areas of forest and much more will meet your eyes. In the wild wild west you’ll constantly be confronted by desperados, fortune hunters, death, rape and robberies.

The main story line will take you about 20 hours to complete, but there’s a wealth of side quests and stories in the open world. You’ll ride around for hours on end taking in the scenery and exploring the game world.

Among your many options for entertainment are breaking in horses, hunting cattle thieves, robbing banks, being a tax collector, bounty hunter, wanted etc. The controls are sharp and concise and John Marston has the ability to put time into slow motion matrix-style, so that you can eliminate your enemies in true gun slinger style.em sagde Lucky Luke?

In some ways the game might be a bit too easy in the shoot outs, but that doesn’t take away too much from how much you’ll enjoy them. However, when you take the game online and play against other people your gun aiming skills will really be put to the test. There are many great multiplayer modes to steal your sleep: death- and teammatches, free roam with 15 players etc.

Red Dead Redemption is one of the most original games of this year and perhaps the first game in a western setting to really deliver on its promise.

You can buy Red Dead Redemption for Xbox 360 here or for Playstation 3 here

Red Dead Redemption

With Mass Effect 2 you get a new story and combat that has more FPS feel to it. Unfortunately the FPS part isn’t totally engaging which keeps ME2 from reaching the level of an instant classic.

With Mass Effect 2 you get a story of epic proportions and the game is massive. You’ll be entertained for at least 30+ hours before the journey ends. The graphics and artwork is great as always, the voice acting is superb and the story is engaging and fun. Martin Sheen does the voice over for the mysterious Illusive Man and that really adds class.

With Mass Effect 2 you have loads of side quests and relationships with your crew to develop as you did in the original and as you have in BioWare’s other epic RPG Dragon Age Origins. So there’s a ton of content to keep you busy.

Some things in Mass Effect 2 doesn’t work out as well as they should. An example of this is the minerals gathering minigame that is quite monotonous and also the hacking and wiring mini-games. They don’t really add much to the game and gets very repetitive quickly after you’ve done them a few times.

If you’re a hardcore action gamer you might find the massive amount of dialogue tedious at times, but if you like a good Sci-Fi story you’ll love it, and Mass Effect 2 is not to be missed. You can pick up Mass Effect 2 at Gamestop here

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Mass Effect 2

When Sins of a Solar Empire was released in 2007 it met with great reviews and got even better witht the two micro expansions. If you haven’t played Sins of a Solar Empire before, then Trinity is the perfect opportunity to do so.

Sins of a Solar Empire - Trinity

If you want to lead your civilization to glory in the intergalactic struggle you can buy Sins of a Solar Empire – Trinity here