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Good Game: Medal of Honor Missteps, Fallout Factions, Fable III Prostitutes, and Zombies in the Wild West

Good Game is a weekly column about the latest news in video games and casual gaming.

The first-person Afghanistan-set shooter Medal of Honor (Xbox/PS3/Wii/PC)was released on Tuesday, to mixed reviews from critics and players. I have mixed feelings about it myself: the single-player campaign is a fun, mostly polished game with good graphics, realistic settings, and a solid story. But the multiplayer experience is a different story- although it’s still fun, it’s not only not “polished,” it’s barely finished. The fact that the single-player and multiplayer versions were created by separate studios is very apparent.Multiplayer was virtually inaccessible the day the game was released due to server problems on EA’s end (a major business and PR faux-pas), but even now that you can play it,it’s buggy, weapons are under- or over-powered, the maps are so small that you frequently get killed immediately after spawning, and when you play in a party with friends, you often end up on opposite teams. And those are just a few of the problems.

There’s still a lot of fun to be had with Medal of Honor, especially the single-player campaign, as long as you lower your expectations.

The FPS I still have high hopes for is Call of Duty: Black Ops (Nov. 9 Xbox/PS3/PC).Activision released new trailers this week, including this one featuring the multiplayer jungle map:

If you’re a fan of the Call of Duty franchise, you might enjoy this extensive history published by IGN this week.

Only a few more days until the release of Fallout New Vegas (Oct. 19 Xbox/PS3/PC)! To tide you over, here’s a new trailer revealing what everyone’s fighting over in the post-Apocolyptic future (it’s not a Best-Dressed award):

Can I start my own faction instead? It’d be easy to find recruits for “The Sarahs” – throw a Pip-Boy into a crowded vault, and you’re bound to hit someone with that name.

Lionhead released a new trailer for Fable III (Oct. 26 Xbox) emphasizing the combat in the game.

A preview of the upcoming Fable III art book has also been revealed, and it includes drawings of prostitute characters that didn’t make it into the game (there are some who did):

I can’t say I’m sorry these didn’t make the cut. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer my fantasy RPG characters not be wearing assless chaps.

A Fable III soundtrack will also be released. If you want to know more about how the game was designed, read Gamasutra’s new in-depth interview with Fable III’s Lead Designer Josh Atkins.

If you prefer horror over fantasy, you can download “Undead Redemption” on Oct. 26instead. Rockstar released a trailer for the Red Dead Redemption (Xbox/PS3/PC) DLC this week:

In the”Undead” single-player mission, John Marston must survive the zombie plague that terrorizes the frontier, fighting off zombies, zombie animals and occasional mythical creatures.To help with this, you’ll get a new weapon called the Blunderbuss,which uses looted zombie remains for ammo. The DLCs new multiplayer content includes competitive and free roam modes such as Undead Overrun, in which you and your friends work together to survive waves of zombies. Frozen pea shooters and tall-nuts not included.

Because no new game is complete without multiplayer these days, check out this trailer for at Tron: Evolution (Dec. 7 Xbox/PS3/PC), a prequel to the upcoming Tron: Legacy movie.

These new-fangled computer things will be the death of us all!

The first stills of Batman: Arkham City (Fall 2011) include this shot of a punk-looking Harley:

Is it just me, or does she look like an edgy Leisha Hailey?

In casual gaming news, I’ve become addicted to the new iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad game Game Dev Story , and I’m not the only one.In this Japanese-made sim, you build your own game company and try to make hit games. Here’s the official description:

Game Dev Story features the ability to develop your company’s own game console, plus a system for changing your staff members’ professions. Hire talented people and train them to develop their skills. As your staff gets more experience, you will unlock a wider array of game genres and content to develop. Try to find the most popular combination and develop for the latest platform! Your staff members can have a variety of game-related professions, from programmer to sound engineer.

Work hard and you may reach the top of the video game industry!

My most profitable game titles so far include War is Hellish and Psycho Soccer. Shockingly, Hip Hop Hunter was not a big seller. (Apparently people don’t want to rap in a forest – who knew?)

You can read an extensive review of the game here.

Also debuting this week is Oceanopolis, a Facebook game that puts an eco-conscious spin on the farming and city-building genres. When you begin the game, you’re given a tropical island that is regularly littered with garbage washed in from the ocean. You pick up the bottles and cans, then recycle them for coins, which you can use to buy flowers, buildings, and other items for your island. Water must be collected via rain barrels and carefully conserved for the flowers and trees, which provide the food you need for energy. The bottles and cans can also be turned into products like jewelry, which you can sell. When you earn enough money,you can buy more islands, and build an entire chain of eco-friendly destinations.

Marine animals negatively effected by litter occasionally wash up on shore in need of your assistance, and facts about recycling are presented regularly but not obnoxiously as you play.

This is a really clever way to educate people about the value of recycling and the detrimental effects of pollution. Here’s a look my island after a half-hour or so of play:

I don’t think I’ll be quitting my day job anytime soon to become a landscaper.

One last news item to leave you with: BioWare just announced that anyone who pre-orders Dragon Age II (March 11 2011 Xbox/PS3/PC)before Jan. 11 gets the Limited Edition of the game – which includes an additional character, new missions, and other bonus content – at no extra cost. (After that, it’s $20 more).

Sarah Warn currently runs EntertainHer.com and writes for TheTorchOnline. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.

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