On the Download: July 29-August 4

It is sad to see things to slow down this much on the downloadable front.  I can expect it from the retail side of things, but there has been a relentless slew of new quality downloadable games all competing for our hard earned cash as of late.  It is rather sad to see things slow down this much.  There was not even any new games released for the 3DS Virtual Console as part of their 8-Bit Summer initiative or a Game of Weekend deal on the eShop as well.  I am still hoping either Pushmo and/or Dillion's Rolling Western to get discounted a few dollars one of these weekends.  Even with the lack of noteworthy downloadable games being released at this very moment, there are a couple noteworthy ones that people should consider pre-purchasing.  You can pre-purchase Symphony, a very interesting musical shooter that I have actually picked up, on Steam for 8 dollars (20% off the regular price) or Sound Shapes, a platformer where the actions make the music, on PSN for 15 dollars (12 dollars if you have PlayStation Plus) both of which come out next week.  Also the first piece of Skyrim DLC, Dawnguard has been released for PC for those PC Elder Scrolls fanatics that have been waiting what to them must seems like ages for this big add-on.  This week there might not be a lot of games releasing on the downloadable side of things, but next week looks to shaping up to be one big week for downloadable games.  Might be big enough to warrant another two part edition of On the Download.  We will have to wait and see.  Before we can get to next week, we still got to take a look at the lone downloadable offering from this week, Deadlight.

Microsoft's Summer of Arcade continues with the release of Deadlight.  Deadlight is a puzzle platformer much like Limbo and Shadow Complex, which both debuted in one of Microsoft's Summer of Arcade promotions from years past.  Set in 1986, the world has been ravaged by a zombie plague.  Deadlight casts you as Randall Wayne, a survivor of this perilous plague.  After his wife and daughter go missing during the beginning of the outbreak, Randall sets out for Seattle to possibly find refuge and hopefully, if they are still alive, find his family.  Each enemy encounter in the game plays out like a puzzle.  You have to expertly use the environment to your advantage in order to get by zombies and other obstacles.  While you are given access to weapons such as an axe and guns to combat the zombie horde, the best solution is to avoid combat unless it is absolutely necessary.  It seems like every other game that releases nowadays has zombies in them in some shape or form and it is getting very tiresome.  While Deadlight is yet another game set in a zombie apocalypse, it looks to be an unique enough experience to make it standout among the horde of zombie games.  If you are interested in Deadlight, you can download from XBLA for 1200 Microsoft Points.

On the Download: December 4-10

Sorry for the delay.  Had a full day at work yesterday so I did not have time to write a blog post.  So to make up for missing yesterday.  I will be putting up two posts today.  On the Download right now and a preview of the Spike VGAs later today.  This week has been a busy week in the downloadable space.  With many games released this week on each platform's online stores, there is a lot of games to cover today.  So let us dive right in.

Frozenbyte surprised a lot of people when they released Trine two years ago.  Trine was a physics-based fantasy action game where you controlled three distinctly unique characters.  You took control of a knight, who was the muscle of the group, a thief, who used ranged weapons and could reach high platforms with her grappling hook, and a wizard, who could use his magic to manipulate objects in the world.  Trine 2, which released on Steam this week, wants to up everything that made the first game an indie gem.  The physics in the game have been improved so now you can manipulate fire, water, magic and even gravity.  You can the game co-op with up to three other players online or locally and upgrade your characters' stats to suit your play-style.  The graphics and art have been improved a lot since the original game.  Creating an immersive and beautiful fantasy world for you to explore.  For 14 dollars, Trine 2 is a great downloadable title for a great price and a worthy pick-up for any gamer looking for something to play after completing this years' biggest blockbusters.

Made by the creators of Advance Wars and Paper Mario, Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo, Pushmo has been declared the 3DS eShop's first killer app by IGN.  In Pushmo, you play Mallo, the happy little pudgy hero that is tasked with saving children that are trapped in unique pieces of playground equipment known as the Pushmo.  Each Pushmo consists of many colourful blocks that Mallo has to rearrange in order to save the child at the end of the level.  Pushmo offers 250 puzzles that you can complete.  On top of that Pushmo allows you to create your own puzzles that can be saved to QR Codes that you can then share with friends or online with total strangers.  If you are interested, go pick-up Pushmo on the Nintendo eShop for just 7 dollars.

Batman invades your iDevice with Batman: Arkham City Lockdown, which released yesterday on the App Store.  Developed by NetherRealm Studios, which brought us the new Mortal Kombat earlier this year, Batman: Arkham City Lockdown has the Caped Crusader patrolling the streets of Arkham City again.  This time around Batman fights in a series of one-on-one encounters very reminiscent of Infinity Blade with the likes of Two-Face, the Joker, Deathstroke, and many more iconic villains.  The one-on-one fights are broken up through little cutscenes and some interactive Batarang segments.  Batman: Arkham City Lockdown features an upgrade system which allows you to use the experience you gain from fights to upgrade Batman's attributes and various gadgets.  After playing Arkham City for the consoles and are craving more Batman action, Batman: Arkham City Lockdown, only 6 dollars on the App Store, will be perfect game for you.