Xotic, the first-person shooter from indie developer WXP Games, is decidedly weird in every way, from its story and weapons to its surreal visuals.

Sheer strangeness only gets you so far, though, as the odd elements of this $10 indie game come at the cost of approachability. Xotic’s psychedelic aspects may lure you in but they can also push you away; the game’s efforts to be unique often come at the cost of playability. This is one of those games you admire for its boldness but don’t totally enjoy playing.

At first, Xotic is pleasantly surreal. The story is about as easy to follow as a French art flick from the ’60s. Some ancient entity known as The Orb has gone nuts after an eternity of living as a non-corporeal energy being. So it does what all non-corporeal energy beings do when frustrated and goes on a galaxy-wide rampage, possessing creatures and destroying planets with attractive, red-glowing toxins called scabs. That’s where you enter. You play some sort of stick-figure alien warrior genetically designed to fight The Orb, who comes complete with a “weaponized symbiotic creature” called the macroterra. This creature can be custom fitted with nifty, creepy devices, such as energy weapons, a virus gun, and homing insects.

You can even rig up “hard holograms” that function as jumping platforms, which can help you reach high places. Experience points are gained for successfully clearing most levels in the single-player-only campaign (there are no multiplayer modes of play). These points can then be rolled into new weapons, extra damage effects, and buffed core stats that govern health, ammo, and armor. Everything you do goes into an arcade score that is tabulated for bragging rights in online leaderboards at the end of each successfully completed level.

The distinctive look, alien level design, and hallucinogenic story and setting are the biggest pluses in Xotic. Gameplay is intriguing in fits and starts early on, but the gee-whiz factor wears off when the cluttered levels start getting in the way of running around shooting bad guys. What could have been an intense and unique surreal experience winds up feeling awfully average.

Track your stats, monitor your clan, learn to be better in this Call of Duty Elite trailer.

Now that Elite is up and running, Activision has seen fit to remind us of what the exact perks are for signing up for Call of Duty Elite with the below trailer. It’s also got tons of sweeping shots of dudes holding guns, if that’s more your thing.

I missed this video for The Bridge during my roundup of the most interesting IndieCade finalists and I’m sorry that I did, which is why I’m going to share it now. There’s not a lot of information on the game yet, not even a website, but I think it’s safe to say it will have a bit in common with And Yet It Moves.

The trailer shows that the game world rotates and then frames the device rather poetically: “The world is much larger when every wall is a floor…” I’m already smitten by the Eschery design and you can be too by watching the trailer, right here. Thanks to Indie Games for bringing my attention to this one.

There may well be a great deal of imaginative puzzle design to go with the style but right now, the style’s all we really have to go off. But what style it is. Fans of melancholia and monochrome solitude must be rejoicing the world over.

EA Sports announced that top soccer player Lionel Messi will be on the cover of the FIFA Street video game in March 2012.

FIFA Street is coming to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 next year.

FIFA Street, as it’s simply titled, is being developed at EA Canada, the same developers of the FIFA sim series. It’s the first Street game since Street 3 came out in 2008 and is planned for release on both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

“This is the first time our award-winning FIFA development team is creating a street soccer game, and we are going to deliver a level of authenticity never before seen in this genre, along with amazing gameplay,” said EA Sports VP and GM of soccer Matt Bilbey. “FIFA Street will appeal to new fans that are looking for a unique, fun soccer experience, and long-time FIFA fans looking for an authentic street soccer experience with the level of quality that they know and love from the FIFA franchise.”

It’s said to have a number of new features including “Street Ball Control,” aerial skills, a new one-touch passing system, and 50 skill moves that you’ve allegedly never seen before. More than 35 locations are included, which range from parking lots to the streets of big cities, to go along with both street soccer stars and professional soccer players from around the world.

Street will connect with the EA Sports Football Club and EA Sports Season Ticket. In the latter’s case, that means you’ll get access to a digital version three days before launch — it’s set for release in early 2012 — that will expire once the retail version becomes available. Subscribers also get a 20% discount on all downloadable content, although no DLC plans have been announced so far.

Ubisoft is releasing its post-apocalyptic action/adventure game I Am Alive on Xbox LIVE Arcade and the PlayStation Network later this year.

The game follows the journey of an “everyman” searching for his wife and daughter after an incident known only as the “Event.” Ubisoft says players will be challenged by both the environment and their enemies as they search the hero’s hometown of Haventon for his loved ones. Stamina and resource management will be key, and the unique combat system will require players to use intimidation to survive.

First announced back in 2008, I Am Alive has seen numerous delays during its production. Originally developed by Darkworks, it is now under the direction of Ubisoft Shanghai.

The latest playable version of THQ’s grapple-happy sports entertainment franchise packs in more legends, ladders and leg drops than ever before. Not happy with the storylines on Monday Night Raw? Wish the some up-and-comer was getting a bigger push? You can make it happen for yourself when the game hits stores next week.

Battlefield 3 is already a terrific game, but the Back To Karkand expansion adds more explosive content. Here is the new “Strike At Karkand” trailer, showing us our first extended look at gameplay footage.

The first trailer displayed a general overview of the expansion, including the locales in which we would be fighting.

Back to Karkand features new weapons, vehicles, and classic maps from Battlefield 2. It will be released this December, free for those who bought a copy of the Limited Edition of Battlefield 3, or available on the same date at $14.99/1200 Microsoft Points.

It’s been a looooong long wait but Minecraft finally comes to the home console!

In an explosion of streamers and cheers, the Mojang team officially launched Minecraft 1.0 as a final(ish) product today from the stage of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, kicking off this weekend’s “MineCon” convention. Surprising absolutely no one, the servers selling the game have been crashing from server loads intermittently. Oops!

Just as soon as they’re more stable, the launch version of Minecraft can be purchased on PC and Mac for $26.95. Maybe for now you could spend some time with that mobile version of the world builder? Or just keep refreshing. That’s probably a better idea.

Black Box’s Frostbite 2-powered racer puts the pedal to the metal today and EA’s released a trailer that’ll take you from 0-60 as far as Need for Speed The Run’s story and gameplay features. You get glimpses of the characters played by Christina Hendricks and supermodel Chrissy Teigen. Of course, there’s Sean Faris as main character Jack Rourke. But the cars are the real stars here. Which automobile that you can’t afford I real life are you most looking to playing with in the game?

A parody of the open-world action genre, Retro City Rampage takes modern game mechanics and mashes them into an authentic 8-bit experience.

Equal parts fast paced arcade action and an epic mission based story mode, it’s all the driving and shooting you’d expect and a whole lot more! With missions that twist pages straight from classic game experiences, you get to re-live and rewrite history in a way only a modern anti-hero could!

When it comes to enemies, weapons are only the beginning! Put on your boots and jump on their heads! Toss ‘em around to knock the rest down! Become truly unstoppable with awesome power-ups!

Through its world, characters and missions, Retro City Rampage lampoons the entire 8-bit era –from its games to the TV, movies and pop culture!