Small developers are looking to become the forefront of the Steam marketplace. While we will always see big titles with ridiculously good deals flooding the Steam front page, it seems like the Indie developers are beginning to make up the numbers in the background. With that in mind, EDGE is one of the latest games made by a relatively small company (Two Tribes) that has just been released on Steam.

First of all, EDGE looks fantastic. It is surprising for a game that uses so much white, grey and black that it feels so colourful. A very clean yet lively feel predominates the style of the game and this is largely down to your technicolour dream-cube. The player characube is the most interesting thing in the game, but flashes of colour that cling to edges of moving platforms and huge stacks of square make the world feel more alive. The game feels like it takes place some kind of cube Milky Way with small shards of levels floating in the background.

EDGE isn’t just pretty; a solid game lies behind the looks. You must navigate a colourful cube by balancing and tumbling through small puzzles and avoiding obstacles. The familiar smell of ‘arcade game’ wafts through EDGE’s pores and this brings with it both good and bad elements. On the positive, levels are short, often fun and each contained within their own set-piece. However, varying levels of difficulty, frustrating level design and having to collect items to access the last levels are a sour aftertaste in a sweet nostalgia kick. Aside from this, neat touches litter the game such as timers appearing when you balance on the floor or wall and plenty of secret passages.

However, there is one fatal flaw in EDGE that will distract and even put off some players: a poor control system. While, no doubt, some will get to grips with the controls straight away, it feels like the camera angle does not compliment the arrow keys at all. In the beginning, I often had to repeat checkpoint after checkpoint because I pressed what I thought was the correct direction on the keyboard and instead tumbled into the abyss. As time goes on it slowly makes more sense, but even now I make the odd mistake when under pressure.

While not a major issue, lag seems to attack randomly and at one point slowed my cube to a near halt when a lot was happening in the background. In addition, while most of the levels are challenging, some amount to no more then: ‘press this button, watch a clever cube trick, walk to the finish’. This just seems strange in a game that prides itself on its puzzle elements. Speaking of the puzzles, by level 40 the designers seem to realise there is only so much you can do with moving platforms, pits and bumpers and the levels begin to feel repetitive. However, there is a lot of charm in EDGE and Two Tribes should be applauded for creating something fresh that homage’s the retro games of old.

Bottom Line: EDGE is a fun, short game that manages to feel retro and nostalgic but at the same time is something new and fresh. Frustrating and repetitive levels stop this game from being truly great, but at just over £5 it is a worthy contender in the Steam game library.

Men of War: Vietnam is a real time strategy game where you micro manage small groups of soldiers against overwhelming odds. There are two campaigns: Russian and American. The first sees you controlling a four men team of Vietcong and Russian special-forces trying to escape to the border. The second puts you deep in Vietcong territory as an American special-forces squad. The campaign missions are varied, ranging from defending bases, to hunting for snipers, to setting up ambushes.

So far, so average. It’s when you begin to play that you realise how different Men of War: Vietnam truly is compared to other Vietnam games. I have never seen a real time strategy game with so much detail (and I play R.U.S.E). As an example of how detailed this game is, it lets you take the helmet off a dead unit and place it on one of your own units’ heads to add a miniscule of extra protection. Smoke grenades, mortars, claymores, flame throwers and revolvers, along with the more usual weapons, have been lovingly re-created as well as 12 vehicles that were present during the war. From the beginning you can see this is a game made with passion.

However, you will also notice when you first play Men of War: Vietnam that you die, a lot. With no tutorial, your dropped straight into the action and I often died minutes after starting a level. This game is brutal, with one or two bullets killing a unit and missions that throw set back after set back. For example, in the opening mission you are ambushed: your orders are to destroy a small camp, then destroy a few helicopters in another camp, then escape, then realise the escape car doesn’t work, then find a boat, then realise the boat also doesn’t work, then run to get fuel, then get ambushed again and then escape. While the scripted events keep you on your toes it sometimes feels ridiculous that your squad encounters so much bad luck.

The enemy A.I. is temperamental, sometimes managing to perform flanking manoeuvres and genuinely fooling you to carrying on with its patrol as its buddies are being slaughtered. Luckily for the A.I., it is helped by the dense vegetation seen in every mission. It is near impossible at times to see where your units are or more importantly where the enemy is under the mass of trees and shrubs that cloud your view. While at times frustrating, it has to be forgiven because, intentional or not, it really captures the feel of the Vietnam War. Keeping your soldiers alive while trying to spot shooters in the foliage can be a nail biting experience and constantly makes you second guess that swaying shrub.

Sadly, while the scenery looks beautiful and needs a high-end computer to take full advantage of it, this level of polish is not seen anywhere else. The user interface is bland and at times clunky, the cut scenes and voice acting are hilariously bad (look out for an emotionless John Travolta sound-a-like) and the music varies from bland to annoying. It feels like 1C  Company have spent all their time and effort into re-creating the terrain and statistics of the weapons and added everything else as an afterthought. However, when it does come down to the bare bones of game play and statistics, this is one of the most realistic Vietnam games around, for better or worse.

Bottom Line: There are sometimes small sparks of brilliance in Men of War: Vietnam where it is possible to have an incredible amount of fun. However, these sparks are too short, too sparse and weighed down by a lack of polish and a ridiculously steep learning curve. To their credit, when it comes to game play 1C Company have managed to create a game that captures the essence of the Vietnam War better then most. Unfortunately, much like the Vietnam War, this game is too brutal, unforgiving and should have been planned better.

That’s right, folks! Valve’s surprise hit from 2007 is free until September 20^th. And believe it or not, this is all for the sake of education. They’ve launched a website called Learn With Portals, which they’re using to encourage educators to use the physics-based puzzle adventure to advocate that the game be used in educational programs. To add a little extra push, Portal can be downloaded free of charge.

“One of the biggest challenges in teaching science, technology, engineering, and math is capturing the students’ imaginations long enough for them to see all of the possibilities that lie ahead,” the site explains. “Using interactive tools like the Portal series to draw them in makes physics, math, logic, spatial reasoning, probability, and problem solving interesting, cool, and fun, which gets us one step closer to our goal: engaged, thoughtful kids!”

For those who are unfamiliar with Portal (you poor, lost souls), the game’s storyline involves you being used as a human test candidate by a homicidal, verbally abusive and hilarious AI named GLaDOS. All tests are spatial puzzles that can only be solved with the help of the “portal gun”. The gun let players create two different doorways on surfaces that connect to one another. Your goal is to escape the testing compound using proper timing and wits.

Get it while you can! As the website promotes… be intrigued. Be engaged. Be inspired. That, or simply enjoy the deliciously dark humour of Portal and abuse the heck out of the laws of physics.

The new add-on will be available for download on September 20 for 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live and $9.99 for PlayStation Network and Steam.

Serious Sam: Double D, is the first title in the indie series will be launching on August 30. The game will be available for a mere $7.99 via digital distribution. You’ll be able to get the game on PC game services like Steam and Get Games. The game’s trademark humor will span across 18 campaign levels. The weapon combinations are endless as there are more then 80,000 possible combinations.

Sorry for another Valve-related news story but the gaming leviathan has just sent this new Portal 2 trailer over and we thought we would share. There’s going to be one of these every week in the run up to the game’s release, so look forward to them! I think we can put our differences behind us, for science. You monster.

Valve has today released a Steam Client update that introduces the SILK voice codec. That’s the same codec developed and used by Skype. SILK is supposed to provide a “significant improvement to Steam’s voice chat quality”, according to the press release. Steam voice chat is available for both one-on-one and group chats. It works on both the regular desktop and while a user is in a game. We’ll send the office Steam-users to go take a chat/listen and report back.

Bethesda has confirmed that the first DLC pack for Fallout: New Vegas will be released on the PS3 and PC on Tuesday, 22nd February. Dead Money was previously exclusive to the Xbox 360. However, the more important news is that there will be three brand new DLC packs in the coming months.

They will all launch simultaneously on the 360, PS3 and PC. Our Bethesda PR contact didn’t have much to say on the newly confirmed DLC, but apparently they will “have details to share with you on all of those soon”. Intriguing.

Valve has lifted the lid on some of the features hitting the Steam-enabled version of Portal 2 on the PlayStation 3. To start off with, the game will include cross platform play, with PC/Mac gamers being able to take on PS3 players in multiplayer.

Moreover, there will be persistent cloud-based storage of PS3 saved games and cross platform chat (the press release cunningly didn’t mention if this will be voice or text based, we’re hoping for the former). Furthermore, those that purchase Portal 2 for the PS3 can unlock a Steam Play copy of the game on PC and Mac for free by linking their PSN and Steam accounts.

“We made a promise to gamers at E3 that Portal 2 for the PlayStation 3 would be the best console version of the product,” said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve. “Working together with Sony we have identified a set of features we believe are very compelling to gamers. We hope to expand upon the foundation being laid in Portal 2 with more Steam features and functionality in DLC and future content releases.”

“We designed the Portal 2 PS3 experience to be very straightforward for gamers,” said Josh Weier, project lead on Portal 2 at Valve. “PS3 gamers will be able to simply drop the Blu-Ray disc in the PS3, link to their Steam account from inside the game, and all their Steam friends (on PC and Mac) will be visible and accessible for chat and game invites.”

The NPD Group has found that 29% of games purchased in the last three months were done so digitally. 47% of the digital buyers the group surveyed said they purchased their games from services like Steam. 42% bought their games through app stores or mobile phone carriers and 30% used console services like Xbox Live. People answering the survey said that they bought on average 3.1 (we’ll take that as three then) games during the past three months. 10% of purchases involved trading in old games.

Anita Frazier, NPD industry analyst, said: “With a wide array of content available for digital download, clearly the purchase drivers are going to differ depending if someone is downloading a frontline core gaming title versus a lower priced app or casual game. And the drivers for purchasing downloadable content are very different from those that spark a full-game purchase.

“This study provides the nuance into how various groups of consumers consider their purchases depending on the type of game they’re interested in.”

No, we haven’t gone back in time. Valve has just launched a new open, public beta for Team Fortress 2 just over three years after its release. The move is similar to that of the Football Manager Live beta. Valve will use the beta to test class, item and weapon changes “without the risk of breaking the game”. Also expect some “higher level, game-wide experiments” to contend with too.

“As you’ve probably seen by now, we like to change things in Team Fortress 2,” Valve said. “A lot. And while we’re perfect most of the time, we occasionally get something wrong. One reason for this is we just don’t get enough data from internal play testing, and another is that we spend too much time watching Tom Bui serenades on YouTube.”

To gain access to the beta, launch Steam, open the Library and install the “Team Fortress 2 Beta” from your games list.

2K Games has released some new maps for Civilization V. There are new maps based on the Americas, Asia, Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean. They are all £2 each on Steam, or you can buy them all as part of the Cradle of Civilization Map Pack Bundle for £6.30.

Valve has launched the “Recommend For You” referral services on Steam. The services are available on both the PC and Mac clients. Essentially, it’s a recommendation thingy on Steam that will throw you info about new games and DLC based upon your tastes, recent purchases and games recommendations from friends. The recommendations will have their own page and will be chucked on your Steam Community News Blotter. Game pages will now also include recommendation info. We find it interesting that Valve can waste their time on this yet delay Portal 2.

Valve has announced that they have delayed Portal 2 to “the week of April 18th 2011”. Valve sent us a witty passage which we thought we would share with you. Observe: “This two month slip not only marks the shortest delay in Valve’s proud tradition of delays, it represents the approaching convergence of Valve Time and Real Time. Though this convergence spells doom for humanity, it will not affect the new Portal 2 release date.”

Team17 has announced Alien Breed 3: Descent for the Xbox Live Arcade and Steam. It will be released on both platforms on Wednesday 17th November. This one directly follows what happened in the last game, with the Leopold and the alien ship breaching the surface of an ice planet. Apparently you’ll be able to walk outside the ship for the first time, with “hull walk set pieces”.

Also expect new aliens to fight and more annoying bosses. There are also some new weapons to play around with too: the Electro-Link gun and the Project X weapon. Descent will cost 800 Allards on the 360 and £6.99/$9.99/€8.99 on Steam. Hopefully, we’ll be reviewing this just like its predecessors over the past few months.

Valve has sent word that they have released Left 4 Dead on the Mac. Mac gamers are now able to download the game through Steam. Valve also confirmed that they have a Halloween sale going down on Steam right now too. They seem to think that it features “savings up to 75% off select titles”.

Valve has released a Halloween-themed update for Team Fortress 2. The update adds the first ever NPC in Team Fortress: the Headless Horsemann. The Horsemann is a randomly generated boss monster and appears in Mann Manor, a new attack/defend map scattered with exploding pumpkins. The update also adds new achievements, a Halloween department of the Mann Co store, and new community items from 10 new contributors. There are probably more bits and bobs floating about too.

EA has confirmed that DeathSpank and Shank have been released on the PC. They both cost £9.99 on Steam, and there’s a demo of Shank available to play around with. DeathSpank is an action RPG, developed by Ron Gilbert of Monkey Island fame and his merry men. Shank is a platform game with loads of blood.

Valve and Activision have announced that Call of Duty: Black Ops will be coming to Steam’s PC contingent. The game is now available for pre-purchase on the service. Those that pre-purchase it will be able to start playing immediately upon the game’s November 9th release. The game also uses Steamworks, so expect to see auto-updating, achievements and clever cloud things. Steamworks will be a part of both the digital and physical copies of the game.

“We are delighted to be delivering the year’s most anticipated title with Black Ops to PC gamers around the world,” said Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve. “We’ve collaborated with the development team to leverage the Steamworks suite of services to deliver the highest level of service to Call of Duty: Black Ops PC customers.”

“Steam has been a great partner throughout development of Black Ops,” said Mark Lamia, president of Treyarch. “We’re working closely together to take full advantage of Steamworks to ensure we deliver the most polished and secure PC experience that our community deserves.”

Valve has today announced that Steam has achieved new account growth of 178% over the past 12 months and sales growth of over 200%. Over 200 Steamworks games have been shipped so far. The total number of active accounts now totals over 30 million with over 1200 games available to download. Peak simultaneous player numbers have also increased to over three million, with over six million unique gamers accessing Steam every day.

To meet the increased demand for Steam, Valve has increased the service’s infrastructure to run at 400Gps. That’s enough bandwidth to ship a digital version of the Oxford English Dictionary 92.6 times per second.

“Steam is on track to record the biggest year in its six year history,” said Gabe Newell, president of Valve. “The year has marked major development advances to the platform with the introduction of support for Mac titles, the Steam Wallet and in-game item buying support, and more. We believe the growth in accounts, sales, and player numbers is completely tied to this work and we plan to continue to develop the platform to offer more marketing, sales, and design tools for developers and publishers of games and digital entertainment.”