This trailer showcases the gameplay of Xbox Live and PlayStation Network title Swarm.

This gameplay trailer for Brink showcases the game’s objective-based teamplay..

Find out what kind of sweet ride you’ll be hopping into in the upcoming Lego Star Wars game!

6 new shots posted.

What happens when you mix mech combat, strategy defense, and an off-kilter sense of humor? Double Fine’s latest game, that’s what.

If there’s been one immediate benefit to Double Fine’s recent shift toward downloadable games, it’s been the developer’s newfound freedom to toy around with lots of different genres. Costume Quest showed what the studio could do with a turn-based role-playing game, while Stacking followed that up with something that offered more traditional adventure-game leanings. And now we have Double Fine’s latest downloadable offering: Trenched. Revealed last week, Trenched is a hybrid between tower-defense strategy and third-person mech warfare. Having had the chance to check out Trenched last night, we came away impressed with just how well this game hit the sweet spot between blowing stuff up and cerebral tactics.

It’s apparent from the outset that Trenched revels in the same offbeat humor for which Double Fine is now known. The game is set in a fever dream vision of the years following World War I, a time when dough boy-piloted mech suits do battle with robotic alien beasts powered by the brainwashing powers of television…if television were invented by an evil villain years before it’s time.

The game’s presentation is thoroughly inspired by the tough-guy men’s magazines of the early 20th century, giving everything an over-the-top look and feel awash in machismo. It’s there in the way you see your commanding officer defiantly waving an American flag as his legs are crushed by a tank in the opening cutscene; it’s also there in the way you see yourself light a cigar using a handgun when celebrating a victory.

But in true Double Fine style, it’s all done with a wink and a nod, never taking itself too seriously.

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Snowblind Studios explores the previously unseen northern battles of Middle-earth in this action role-playing game.

We’ve seen games individually based on the Lord of the Rings films and books, but we haven’t seen a game that encompassed nearly all major media birthed from Tolkien’s fantasy universe until now.

Warner Bros. and Snowblind Studios have license to use both the films and the books in their upcoming action role-playing game Lord of the Rings: War in the North. While this ostensibly lets the development team at Snowblind borrow visual elements from the films and stay closer to the lore of the books, their relationship with the fantasy universe created by Tolkien even goes deeper. The Tolkien estate is working in conjunction with the development team on the new story, overseeing details to ensure that it fits in within the rest of the Lord of the Rings canon.

War in the North occurs around the same time as the War of the Ring in which Frodo and Sam make their way to Mordor as the rest of Middle-earth fends off Sauron. And much like that story, War in the North focuses on the fellowship of a dunedain (ranger), dwarf, and elf attempting to fend off Sauron’s armies in the north headed by one of Sauron’s top lieutenants, Agandaur. Using this fellowship as the foundation for gameplay means that you’re never alone.

You always have direct control over one member of the fellowship whether you’re playing alone or with two other people. But if you are playing solo, then the AI will take over the other members. Additionally, if you’re playing as the dwarf but feel like switching to the ranger, you’ll have opportunities to switch at various hub areas.

The reason you might want to switch, and the reason why you’re always playing with two other characters at any given time, is that members of the team have their own strengths and skills that are designed to work more effectively when used in conjunction with each other. For example, Farin the dwarf is the tank of the group, which means he’s most effective when engaged in melee combat. In fact, one of his special abilities, called war cry, is even designed to draw enemies toward him and away from his teammates who might have a harder time standing toe-to-toe with more powerful foes.

This war cry skill also makes him impervious to knockdown strikes, but he can still take damage, and you would do well to use evasive moves while in this state. Meanwhile, Eradan the ranger is formidable at both close and long range, but he has the ability to surprise enemies with his special stealth skills. Finally, Andriel the elf can be used primarily as a support-ranged character because one of her skills lets her cast an orb that simultaneously heals other members of the fellowship and deflects enemy projectiles.

However, she can also dual-wield various weapons, which can make her effective in close combat.

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9 new shots posted.

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25 new shots posted.

Eidos Montreal reveals release date for long-awaited cyberpunk action-RPG; UK release set for August 26.

The traditional press release may want to watch its back, as more and more companies are using Twitter to make major announcements. The latest example comes from Eidos Montreal, which today used the microblogging service to reveal the release date for Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Square Enix’s long-in-development action role-playing game will arrive on the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on August 23 in North America and August 26 in the UK.

Deus Ex will be available in two versions: The regular $60 edition and a $70 Augmented Edition. The latter will include premium packaging for the game, a 40-page art book, a DVD with behind-the-scenes features, and a motion graphic novel included on a bonus disc. Players who preorder from specialty retailer GameStop will get a new mission–complete with a cameo from original Deus Ex protagonist JC Denton–as well as in-game assists in the form of a grenade launcher, explosives, and an automatic lock pick.

Developer Eidos Montreal has said it wants to stay true to the spirit of the original Deus Ex, allowing players to choose their own approach to each level. Depending on the augmentations players choose, they can go through each part of the game with a focus on combat, stealth, hacking, or even social interactions. For more on the game, check out GameSpot’s previous coverage.

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