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Square Enix's FF13 was a controversial title to a number of longtime fans of the flagship series. Much has been made of its heavily linear area designs, overly long tutorials, shallow world, and its twitch-centric combat system. To more than a few, for a game expected to carry the series forward, it seemed to be heading in the wrong direction.

FF13-2 wants to change all of that. Or at least head back in a direction that won't burn as many bridges behind it. Boasting a new story packed with all of the ludicrously beautiful visuals that HD televisions squee with delight over, Square Enix took much of what was criticized about the first game by focusing on hammering out the rough edges.

It's not the first time that they've followed up on one of the series' major chapters in this fashion as FF10-2 can testify, but it is probably the first time that the changes aren't so much experimentation as they are a belated do-over of what didn't work as well the first time around.

BBC's time traveling Doctor has his own, free-to-play browser MMO that's undergoing a bit of a preview. It's certainly different from any other traditional MMO and it's not because of the quirky Doctor.

The 2D art style and the puzzle-based gameplay set it apart from some of the more combat hungry F2P titles out there making it something of a mental game than a twitch based one. Though when you're trying to solve things while on the clock, you might be twitching anyway from trying to beat it.

Right now, the only thing you need to sign up for it is an email address. Once that's punched in, you're briefed by Doctor in the TARDIS on what has to be done to keep space-time from unraveling, all presumably leading up to a spectacular climax.

I made it to the second mission where I was promptly mauled by living mannequins when my AI controlled teammates couldn't unlock a door in time. One can always team up with other living people, though, for a better chance at survival.

And everything is puzzle based from rewiring cables, unlocking doors, to combat which is handled through a Tetris-like mechanic. There are also levels earned to grow your character and even a bit of crafting to build new toys. It also looks like the game will use micro-transactions to purchase special "Chronos" points for in-game goodies like clothing or upgrades.

The points slowly generate themselves over time - think glacially slowly - making it tempting to splurge a few bucks to get a slight boost providing a look at how the game may finance itself in the long run. Or you can just stick to what it gives you for free and earn things the old fashioned way as you save the universe.

Sonic Generations is an amazing gut punch to the malaise that the Blue Bomber's career has been in lately. Not quite a knockout blow, but longtime fans might not care as they race through two decades of Hedgehog history.

War in the North takes players back to Middle Earth to fight evil while Frodo and company head to Mordor to destroy the One Ring. Taking place in the North, would-be adventurers will play their part in stemming the tide of darkness waiting to erupt from the cold, wintry holds there.

It's over. After 22 years, one of the first magazines dedicated to reporting on a young and rapidly growing console market has finally decided to call it quits. According to a report by IndustryGamers, November's print issue will be GamePro's last and the website will close on December 5th.

GamePro joins Computer Gaming World as another casualty of a medium under pressure from the digital space. CGW, later known as Games for Windows in 2006, covered the PC gaming industry for over 27 years before shutting down in 2008.

As a kid, GamePro was as good a reason as any to hit up a place like Waldenbooks for the latest gaming gossip. It was different, entertaining, and like many other magazines at the time, trying to find its own voice in an industry where everything was still up for grabs and Vic Tokai had one man on their customer service line.

Its pages reflected the childish excitement of the time - rough, colorful, and illuminated with plenty of art that clearly wasn't on any of the game boxes. It even had its own comic strip and a spandex hero who showed up at CES before there was an E3.

And this was all before the 'net became the monster it is today. GamePro, EGM, Gamer's Republic, and a score of others were only the channels in those heady days through which audiences could tune into whether Zelda was going to have another sequel, see who would stoke the 16-bit fires with more trash talking hardware ads, or share tips and cheat codes.

Unfortunately, changing market conditions in the face of an ever-growing digital world have made it difficult for several print outlets to sustain themselves, especially in recent years.

IndustryGamers reports that GamePro's editorial team will be folded into PC World and that GamePro's website will eventually point visitors to PC World's instead. There is no word yet as to what options will be given to the rest of the staff, or if there will even be positions for them in PC World going forward.

Whatever the case might be, I wish them all the best in landing on their feet along with a sad farewell to another gaming legend. Thanks for many years of thumb blistering memories and excitement.

The Inquisitor looked at me expectantly, hoping to see what nugget of information I would pry loose from the victim strapped to the table. The man coolly went about his business while my prey writhed in fear of what was to come. But after a few words of calm and a promise of help, his will melted before this unexpected kindness. And I kept my word, seeing that he would leave Korriban's tombs and its Academy politic far behind him.

id Software isn't known for strong, single player storytelling. They usually leave that to others such as Raven Software. Anyone that has played their games knows that they're more about eye candy and blistered trigger fingers replacing favorite fictional moments with tales of narrowly avoiding your best friend's missile punch.

But Rage is different. At the very least, it's very different for id.