Gears of War

It's been a while since I finished Gears of War 3. I liked it and everything but I was majorly bummed that it never revealed why the Locust Queen looks like a human. It was one thing that I really wanted to know. Needed to know. How could developer Epic leave a loose end hanging like that? It's a question that still burns me like a urinary infection.

So in the absence of official canon clarification (or anything better to do), I thought I would knock together a few possible but not all entirely probable explanations as to why Gears of War's Locust Queen looks human.

Welcome to the third part of our weeklong video reimaginings of modern games as retro classics. So far, we've seen God of War as a Commodore 64 game and Uncharted as a Game Boy title screen. Today, it's the turn of Marcus Fenix. We've been travelling forward through the timeline of classic consoles which brings us to Sega's 16-bit baby. Yes, this is Gears of War as a Mega Drive game (that's a Genesis if you're from the US of A). Roll tape...

Greetings men, women and intelligent cats who have learned to read but are keeping quiet until the right moment for an uprising presents itself - welcome to another episode of TalkRadar UK. 

Episode 88 sees the return of gallivanter-in-chief, Justin who returns from his holidays packing the usual flat jokes that he's become famed for. There's a lot of chatter about Portal 2 in which Dave and Nathan try - and fail - not to spoil it for Towell. There's the news bit where the men discuss the Xbox 720 rumour and Activision's poisoned chalice, the James Bond license. We read through your answers to Question of the Week - If you couldn't play videogames for a month what would you do with your time? - and answer your burning queries sent to the GamesRadar Hotline.

There's also an incredible amount of other game-related talk packed into the one hour, 22 minutes and 16 seconds that the show lasts. Come take a listen. If nothing else, it'll take your mind off worrying about the imminent attack from our feline overlords.    

Weapon progression is tricky. On one hand, developers want to keep the player interested by creating a series of cool guns and abilities to gain throughout the game. On the other, we’re smart enough to realize they’ve hidden a badass doomsday weapon somewhere in there and we want it right now.

While most games take this approach, some shouted "screw it!" and shoved the best weapon into your hand right at the start. Then told you to kill everything in sight. This is our tribute to seven of those glorious games and their excessively effective implements of death...

One of the challenges of an action game is creating a villain that you, the player, will want to destroy. Some games, like Killzone 3, end up crafting bad guys so cool and awesome, you're rooting for them instead of the so-called heroes. Then there are games that just get it right, making an entire army of bastards you just want to punch in the face.

Thanks to a mixture of visual design, atmosphere and writing, some games go beyond even that, and are able to craft an entire race of enemies that are simply despicable to behold. They're ugly, they're disgusting, and they garner absolutely zero sympathy. Those are the truly successful baddies in videogames, and now we rightly pay tribute...

Criminals aren’t the most respected members of society in real life, but they can make for some fantastic videogame characters. Perhaps it's because the game industry is clearly trying to turn our nation's children into a breed of hyperviolent superthugs, just like all the know-it-alls who don’t actually know much of anything keep saying. At any rate, we've chosen our favorite prisoners from gaming history, so read on for our glorification of digital lawbreakers and give them the credit they deserve. If you don’t, they’ll just steal it anyway...

While mainstream rappers express their affection for video games from time to time, the underground "nerdcore" hip-hop movement takes the connection to a whole other level. There are entire songs and albums dedicated to a love of gaming, and many of these artists plug references into their most popular tracks.

Here are our ten favorite songs and videos. Crank your PC speakers, dial the geekiness to 11 and let's get rolling.

Gears of War developer Epic used last week's Game Developers Conference to showcase some of the latest upgrades to its Unreal game engine. Amongst other things, this included the ability to create impressive - and rather pretty looking - lush, plant-filled environments. Like this:

 

Does this mean we can expect to see Marcus and the rest of Delta Squad embarking on a little jungle-based combat in Gears of War 3?

You

Video game heroes are often tough. But there's always something that they can't do. Some trick their enemies could utilise if only they were smart enough.

So we've done it for them. Felons of the virtual realm - here is a print-out-and-keep guide to help you best these badass heroes.

How to kill... KratosDefy his existence

How to kill... BayonettaCut off her hair when she's not looking. Now she's powerless.

How

When brilliant tactical masterminds aren't.