It seems that Dust has a few notable friends in the gaming biz and they’ve been unceremoniously locked up and hidden throughout the world of developer Humble Hearts’ beautiful 2D world. Wanna find them all so Dust can party down? Just watch the video below to get an idea of where they are and how to reach them.

I’m not a big fan of having to find collectibles in video games and so I know that many of you out there despise it as much, if not more, than I do. I’m hoping that this walkthrough will ease some of the frustration.

Each walkthrough video will show you where all the hidden bottles are for each selected mission. There’s also a map that you can check out that points out where I was standing and the direction I was facing when I shot the bottle. The time stamp below each number is there to let you know just at what point in the video that particular bottle’s location was shown so you can just fast-forward to the parts you need to see.

Hope this helps.

Tera has been out in North America for a little over a month and now you can take Bluehole Studio’s MMORPG for a spin directly from your web browser. We’ve just added a free streaming demo of Tera to our Gaikai streaming demo page. You can find the Tera demo and many more by navigating to the “Streaming Demos” link above or by clicking here. All you need is a high-speed internet connection and a java-enabled web browser to try out any of the free games on our site. No need to worry about your computer’s system requirements.

Enjoy Tera and give our other demos a try, as well.

I’m not a big fan of having to find collectibles in video games and so I know that many of you out there despise it as much, if not more, than I do. I’m hoping that this walkthrough will ease some of the frustration.

Each walkthrough video will show you exactly where the gold bars are for the selected mission. There’s also a map that you can check out that points out each bar’s location. The time stamp below each number is there to let you know just at what point in the video that particular bar’s location was shown so you can just fast-forward to the parts you need to see.

Hope this helps.

Ballistic Publishing is publishing a 320-page art book featuring character, environment, monster, weapons, vehicle concept and production art for Epic’s Gears of War 3. Hardcore fans will also garner  commentary and insights from the Epic Games’ creative team while thumbing through concept and production art, and cinematic screen shots.

Ballistic’s Gears 3 tome will come in 3 flavors: A Soft Cover Edition that will retail for $65, A Special Leather Edition with leather-bound cover with embossed title, and glossy tip-on art will set you back $129, and a $300 Folio Edition featuring a cover with embossed titles and a matching hand-crafted presentation case. The Limited Folio Edition cover also includes a metal-carved cover ornament (shown below), exclusive to this edition only. The Folio Edition is limited to 300 books and will also come with an individually-numbered and personally-signed certificate by Epic Games Art Director, Chris Perna.

“The Art of Gears of War 3″ should be releasing during the last week of June.

There are probably better ways to throw your scratch away, but I could understand the draw for the hardcore fans out there. You can get more info at Ballistic’s site and scope out every page of the book as well.

Ubisoft and Dev studio Loot Drop have brought Ghost Recon to the Facebook masses just ahead of the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier release.

Ghost Recon Commander is an isometric tactical combat game that features 10 replayable missions, three difficulty levels and dozens of weapons for players to choose from. Players get to build their own Ghost through a leveling system and, this being Facebook and all, can take their character along for co-op gameplay with friends. And if you have no friends you can hire yourself out as a mercenary for a price of course.

While the game isn’t too uninteresting, gamers planning on picking up Ghost Recon: Future Soldier will find that playing through the Facebook game unlocks exclusive weapons, weapon skins and bonuses to use while playing Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and the, as yet, unreleased Ghost Recon Online. The cross game compatibility doesn’t stop there either. Ghost Recon Commander players can also gain benefits, such as exclusive characters, by playing Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

Just remember that you have to have a Uplay account to collect your digital swag. You can play the game at: apps.facebook.com/GhostReconCommander/

Get ready for some satisfyingly gratuitous sniping action. 505 Games has released a demo for the sequel to 2005′s Sniper Elite.

The Sniper Elite V2 demo is available on Xbox LIVE and the Playstation Network and gives us a taste of one of the earlier missions found in the game. There’s plenty of awesome bullet-time/x-ray/holy sh*t moments to be had and Sniper Elite fans (like me) will most likely enjoy how similar the game is to its predecessor. Those kill cams kick effin’ A.

A PC demo is expected sometime later this month, though no specific date was given.

Mass Effect junkies will also be able to unlock six new multiplayer characters. The Asari Justicar Adept, Krogan Battlemaster Vanguard, the Batarian Soldier, Batarian Sentinel, Geth Engineer and Geth Infiltrator will now join the fray and take advantage of three new unlockable weapons; the Striker Assault Rifle, Kishock Harpoon Gun and Geth Plasma SMG.

The DLC will also add the possibility of acquiring new consumables in their purchased reinforcement packs:

• Strength Enhancer – Applies a melee damage boost for one mission
• Targeting VI – Applies a headshot damage bonus for one mission
• Stabilization Module – Stabilizes weapons while firing and moving for one mission
• Shield Power Cells – Shortens the length of time shields take to begin recharging for one mission

Playing in the Resurgence Pack maps will also contribute to players’ Galaxy Readiness, as well. Not bad for the low low price of on the house. Oh, and if you’re one of the few that haven’t yet played Mass Effect 3 we’ve got a free demo on our Gaikai Streaming Demos page for you to try.

Are you still debating over whether or not you’re going to pick up Mass Effect 3? Well we’re here to make your decision a little easier.

We’ve just added a free Mass Effect 3 streaming demo to our Gaikai demo page that you can play on your computer RIGHT NOW! No need to worry about your system requirements either. These demos come straight from the cloud and, as such, don’t use your computer’s hardware anyway. All you need is a high-speed internet connection and a Java-enabled browser to play these warlocks. So click here or navigate to our “Streaming Demos” tab in the navigation bar above to play Mass Effect 3 and the other free demos we’ve got and don’t forget to share the cloud gaming awesomeness.

Knowing nothing about the unfortunately porn-sounding Deep Black: Reloaded or its Russian developer Biart, I decided to go into the game with an open mind and give it a fair chance.  I was pleasantly surprised by what Biart was trying to do with Deep Black: Reloaded, but too many flaws and questionable design choices keep this budget title from reaching its potential.

Story

Deep Black’s story is not a very original or engaging one and the setup is as generic as they come. Deep Black is set in 2029 where the United Nations has split up into two warring factions. You play as retired Lieutenant Syrus Pierce who has been called back into active duty to rescue hostages and gather Intel from a terrorist organization. Things quickly devolve into generic clichés and plot devices. The story lacks any sort of real revelation or inventive twists. Most players will quickly lose interest in it.

Gameplay

Deep Black: Reloaded is set up like your standard cover based third person shooter. The hook to Deep Black: Reloaded are the underwater combat sequences. Deep Black’s mechanics on land are merely adequate. Everything feels smooth and right at first, but you’ll realize soon enough that your character moves too slow and feels weighed down.

There is plenty of cover scattered about and you’ll have to utilize all of it to survive, but the finicky cover system will often fail you and cause you a quick, frustrating death. Pierce succumbs to bullets fairly quickly and the game throws endless amounts of brain dead enemies at players. You can easily be overwhelmed, not from good enemy A.I., but from these constant enemy barrages. Deep Black, like many third-person shooters out there, suffers from shooting gallery syndrome. You sit behind cover and wait for enemies to pop their head out of cover; wash, rinse, repeat.

The point A to point B design fails to get the adrenaline going as well. Weapons feel solid, but all lack inspiration. You’ll get your standard, pistols, shotguns, and assault rifles, but I was hoping for more sci-fi inspired creativity from them considering the setting. The weapon lineup feels like a missed opportunity to change up and breathe life into the gameplay. Deep Black’s saving grace comes in the form of its underwater combat sequences. Biart really focused its energy into these sequences and they feel satisfyingly fast paced.

These sequences could have failed epically, but Biart manages to make you agile and maneuverable in the water; more so than when you’re on-foot. Not everything is perfect, but you have to give credit to Biart for really going all out on making the underwater controls accessible and easy.  I would have really been happy with the entire game taking place underwater. Once you experience the fun underwater sections, you’ll quickly muscle your way through the next on-foot sections as quickly as possible to get to the next underwater segment. It’s a shame that Biart didn’t do a better job of balancing both gameplay types. You can see right through the seams and at what was given more attention here.

Multiplayer could’ve been another fun extension for Deep Black. Unfortunately no one seems to be playing and the only few matches I managed to find lost connection to the server quickly.

Graphics

The visuals exhibit the same polarizing design choices as the gameplay. The land segments look drab and unexciting, but when you get to the underwater areas the game really shines. Biart created a fantastic underwater atmosphere and if you’re capable of running Phsyx, it really becomes a treat. The variances in detail between the land and underwater segments are staggering at times. Again you can easily tell where Biart focused most of its attention. Deep Black does run smooth and will run so on a fairly modest system. I didn’t experience any framerate drops and the animation for the characters is surprisingly well done. This won’t push your system at all and aside from the uninspired land segments, this game does well visually.

Sound

The sound here is your average generic action game type.  Guns sound like they should, voice acting can be grating, and the music does nothing to rev you up. One weird thing that you’ll hear is the death cries for the soldiers. They all sound the same, but you’ll also hear the exact same ones when you dispatch an enemy underwater.

Final Thoughts

There’s definitely some genuine talent and some really good ideas rolling around in the Biart stables. With a little more time and polish Deep Black: Reloaded could have been a real gem. The game really has its flaws and the balance between play styles drags the game. Still the idea that Biart was shooting for is done well, but it’s hard to recommend Deep Black even at its current price point. There’s a good game hidden in here somewhere if you can stomach some of the mediocre elements and flaws. I commend Biart for trying something new. I hope that the Indie studio can learn from mistakes made with Deep Black: Reloaded as it moves forward.